ART AND GRAPHICS

I began my art journey by taking private painting classes at a young age as well as being enrolled in museum sponsored youth arts programs. I worked part time as a paste up artist in my teens. A job that led to several years in graphics and poster art. 

I was also at that time writing music and poetry and spending a lot of time with people in those worlds. 

In my thirties I returned to painting as well as exploring Olfactory Arts. I divided my time between creating scent art installations and painting. The Olfactory Installations led to a thirty year stint as a fragrance designer (perfumer). Something that I still do, but in a lesser capacity as the owner/creator of the artisan perfume brand SOIVOHLE. 
After experiencing a life threatening medical emergency in March of 2024, I spent the better part of the last year rebuilding my health and thinking about the future. It was months before I could return to my studio and by then everything that I had been working on seemed unimportant. I was unable to relate to it on any level so I made the decision to start fresh. 

Currently I am moving back and forth between a return to oil painting and a series of graffiti-ish collage, mixed media paintings inspired initially by Orwells Animal Farm.  I have always worked in series format. Creating a body of work around an idea or theme that for whatever reason, seemed important to me at the time. Including the Woolf Series, inspired by a book by Virginia Woolf. I spent five years on that series, exploring the similarities of women creatives then and now.  

The inspiration for the Magic Bean graphics has moved on. We lost the Bean in March of this year after a sudden illness. He was the glue that held everything together and I miss his physical presence, but still talk to him and feel him with me everyday.

I am continuing to create works in this series as it includes several cats from our family of rescues. I add to the graphics designs regularly and still enjoy moving from painting to the computer.