I am an award winning artist living in Paradise, CA, up in the Gold Country above Chico. As you might be able to tell, I am physically challenged, and have been for 42 years. It doesn't stop me though from creating beautiful art that has been exhibited throughout the United States and published in a couple of books, including 500 Art Quilts: An Inspiring Collection of Contemporary Work by Ray Hemachandra and Karey Bresenhan and in an article in Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine by Vicki Anderson, Publisher/Executive Editor. I also have been a featured artist on Dharma Trading's online newsletter (Oct. 2009). Currently I am one of the artists in Quiltposium online magazine by Jim West.
I'm active in community charities, and have recently made a small house quilt for "Welcome Home" Patriotic House Quilt Project for Veterans First, Habitat for Humanity home facility for veterans in Garden Grove, CA. Habitat for Humanity, is redecorating all of the rooms and a patriotic house quilt will be hung on the wall by each bed in the facility. I designed and donated a scarf for the "Enduring Earth" challenge to benefit The Nature Conservancy. It was purchased by a college in North Carolina for their permanent collection. I also have served as the volunteer secretary for Fiberarts Connection of Southern California since 2003. I am also a member of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA).
People often ask me what draws me to want to make pictures in the fiber arts media. I tell them I love the textures of the different textiles, and I also love things like beading, embroidery, adding additional texture on the surface, painting and hand-dyeing, and I often use all of these techniques in my quilts. I also love nature, and since I can't get out as much as I would love to, I use my imagination and creativity to create landscapes that I really enjoy. It's my way of learning about different parts of the world as I did with my Lilies of the Pantanal quilt. You can also see the entire quilt on my gallery of art quilts. The Pantanal is the world's largest tropical wetland. It lies mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but extends into portions of Bolivia and Paraguay as well, sprawling over an area approximately 75,000 square miles. I love water lilies and I read about these huge ones in the Pantanal; they are large enough to hold a man.
One of my goals is to become more professional. I have been focusing on making really high quality work and getting it into exhibits and into books. As I am unable to go out and teach, I am looking into other opportunities for my career. I am excited about all the potential, and when I look back on my overall development as an artist, I feel very good about where I started out and how much I have accomplished in these years.
