I am an artist living, working and teaching art in Portland Oregon.
B.A. - studio art from Carleton College
M.F.A. -Printmaking from University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.A.T. -Art K-12- Lewis+Clark College.

My work has been exhibited in approximately 47 group and juried shows nationally, as well as 7 one/two person shows in the Northwest.

Currently I am working on several series that are interrelated formally and most likely have evolved from one another. It is a fun way to work.
The two series represented here are:

Toile Series-
I have always been attracted to traditional Toile, for personal and formal reasons. I grew up in a home with floor to ceiling Toile drapery, and am partial to the cross-hatch drawing style and the arrangement of vignettes and decorative motifs.

Toile was invented in the late 1700's in Europe, as a fabric printing process. Originally woodblocks were used, but to create the finer lines, an intaglio etching system was devised, as a former printmaker, I like that aspect. Like many prints from that time, communication about societal norms was a common theme, thus the images are a window into the period. Also as a product for the home, fabric, drapery, upholstery are mundane, domestic and thus a “female” art material. In original Toile (and very commonly in earlier art), printed images were used, redrawn and reprinted from one fabric producer to another, as visual references were scarce and copyright laws were nonexistent.

The most famous Toile fabric pattern was inspired by a popular poem of the time, “Seasons,” organized as Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Combined images of harvest and romance were the metaphors for the Seasons. The romance and women's roles are what intrigued me. Birth control has changed women's options dramatically, but there are still many aspects of female life and responsibilities remaining the same. What is unchanged and what is different...?
I began processing these thoughts and images and began responding with my own version of Toile.

The Explorer Series was begun three years ago after I stumbled across some old illustrations of Victorian men and women attempting to explore, observe and understand the nether-reaches of their world. Their knowledge of the science of the natural world was unformed and their conclusions were often erroneous or very odd at best...but they were inquisitive. I was inspired by the vulnerable contraptions they built to travel underwater, and on paper I designed some of my own. Recently I have expanded the work to include exploration of outer space. Even in my lifetime, I have witnessed dangerous exploration with insufficient equipment. What risks people took and what conclusions did they draw? I admire and delight in their fearless curiosity.

As I find myself more and more engaged with this work, I see it as a metaphor for my investigation and explorations in art. I am combining narrative and aesthetic elements parts of my personal vocabulary, using a process in which the “story” unfolds.

There are surprises, there are some dead-ends, but dead-ends often have kernels of future ideas. Participating in this process is how I learn and progress.