I think of my life as being divided into two parts -- part one in Kansas for my first 47 years, part two in
New Mexico for these last 15 years. I was brought up to believe that giving to others, in very direct
ways, was my place in life, so I got degrees in nursing and counseling and psychology and worked with
students and clients and colleagues for 25 years. I did not think about using any kind of visual means
to express anything and I did not think of myself as particularly creative. In 1991 my husband and I
moved to the mountains in northern New Mexico and part two began. Suddenly I needed to paint. I
needed to express many issues, thoughts, feelings, letting them surface and then go through my hands
to become something outside myself which I could see. I spent a year sitting all day every day with
watercolors and paper. I have no real idea how it happened, but this nonverbal way of being who I am,
and indirectly giving to others, has now become my life's work. I use various media -- currently pastels
on paper, acrylic on canvas, and beads-with-sterling jewelry. My goal, my hope as I create pieces is
always the same that I can express a part of what I see, what I experience, the joy and the grief I struggle
with in a way that will give me a sense of completing another step in my life and will give someone else
pleasure, curiosity, meaning, or maybe some minutes of self- reflection. I never intended to think of
myself as -- or become -- an artist, but you know what, that is who I now am.
