My studio is my happy place . It gives me the feeling of autonomy , and making art definitely gives me a sense of self and a sense of purpose . I also love sharing my work on studio tours , showing it in galleries , and selling it .
I grew up as an only child with a lot of creative playtime by myself in the hills of the San Francisco Bay Area , where I had an early connection to the natural world . I built forts in the tall grasses and was an expert lizard catcher , zooming in with swift hands while the lizards were sunning themselves on the rocky embankments next to the horse trails . We had a creek running through our backyard , and I had a pet turtle named Andy . Now I live in Northern California with the Sacramento River to the west and the wilderness of Chico ’ s Bidwell Park winding its way up a canyon in the Cascade foothills to the east . I am an avid gardener and today have 12 box turtles , a pond of koi fish , a cat , and a dog .