I cannot recall a time when I wasn’t exploring a creative impulse. Even as a
young girl running around with my Instamatic camera, looking through the
lens and seeing encapsulated worlds before me was magical. I wasn’t
cognizant of it being a direction I would take later in life, it was just part of
how I approached my world. I have always been attracted to the interaction
of color and how things fit together like a puzzle. Not necessarily needing
things to have an identity, but more like the way shapes and color merge to
form the identity. The best metaphor I can think is like a quilt.
Like many, I pursued other areas of interest to make a living. Creative time
was something I looked forward to, as it came in bits and pieces. That was
until I was in my mid 30’s, when I decided I was going to finish my degree.
At that time, I was taking art classes as a way of “feeding my soul” but still
dismissing the idea of art as a formal direction. I was at a real cross road in
my life, a point when I realized that I could go in the direction I started
years before and finish my studies in biology or pay attention to this growing
desire to go deeper into my art studies. I took the chance and matriculated at
Lyme Academy College of Fine Art, a small art school in Old Lyme,
Connecticut. Known for its classical training in the arts, I spent my days
learning from the figure. “If you can paint or sculpt the figure, you can paint
or sculpt anything” was often heard in class. I thrived in school, absolutely
loved every minute I was there.