I didn’t set out to become an artist.
In fact, it was the one thing I always admired in others but never believed I could do. But life, as it often does, had other plans.
For twenty-five years, I worked in the financial services industry—until my husband convinced me to take early retirement so we could travel the country in a forty-foot motorhome. It was a fabulous life… until it wasn’t. A heart attack, followed by multiple surgeries and ultimately cancer, took his life. Suddenly, I had to figure out how to turn forty years of “we” upside down and begin building a new “me.”
That’s when I made the decision to go back to school to study art — in my sixties! The University of the Arts in Philadelphia offered a Post-Baccalaureate program for people like me—those with degrees in other fields but with a desire to prove their creative capacity — which would allow the student to matriculate into the MFA program upon its completion. I graduated in May of 2016.
Today, I sculpt with thread.
Using water-soluble substrate and multiple shades of thread, I create watercolor-like two-dimensional and three-dimensional artworks. I erode as little as an inch at a time, shaping each curve, bloat, indentation, or three dimensional structure with the hope of magnetizing the viewer through discovery.
Often, I incorporate recycled materials into my work—though I prefer to say I work with trash. Trash has become a metaphor for widowhood. Losing a spouse isn’t just losing a loved one—it’s the loss of a shared life, a routine, an identity. You feel lost, discarded, empty, useless,… much like how we regard trash. My goal is to give those discarded objects new life, just as art gave new life to me.
The reward comes when a viewer’s eyes widen with surprise upon learning what the work is made from—Tyvek envelopes, Keurig coffee filters, Shout color catchers, dryer lint, plastic produce bags, packing foam. These are just a few of the materials that morph into art in my studio.
Nature is my muse.
I’m constantly inspired by its colors, textures, and the quiet patina painted across the landscape. Moss, lichen, and fungi appear often in my work—they’re some of the most breathtaking surprises I’ve found on a simple walk. In my abstract pieces, I aim to stir emotion; in the representational ones, I try to help others see what I see—the smallest details that pull you in before you even realize it.
Now, I know the artist was always within me.
It just took a life-altering event to bring her forward—and to learn how to share her with the world.
2015 - 2016
University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Craft and Material Studies, Fiber Arts
1983 - 1985
Columbia College University, Columbia, MO
Business Finance
1973 - 1974
University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO
Journalism
1972
Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, MO
2025
Musa International Women's Essence, London, England
Golden Duck Gallery Exhibition, Winner, Budapest, Hungary
2020
Recipient, Leonardo Da Vinci International Prize for Contemporary Art, Florence, Italy
Recipient, UNESCO/United Nations International Women in Art, Rome, Italy
2018 - 2020
Artist in Residence, Cherry Street Pier, Philadelphia, PA
2016 - 2017
Artist in Residence, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2017
SDA Exhibition in Print, Winter 2017
2016
“On Display," Cover art for juried show brochure Making It, September 2016
2020
Women’s Essence, Fifth edition, Rome, pages 101-104
2019
Reclamation Act, May 2019
GRID Magazine
Life’s Curves, March 2019
Hand Eye Magazine
2018
Public Opinion
Transitional Artist, August 27, 2018
Top International Artists To Watch in 2018, Summer 2018
Art Tour International Magazine
2017
The Colors of Breezy Point
Untitled private commission
Professional Artist Surface Design Association
SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association)
TAFA (Textile and Fiber Art)
Studio Artist
Arbitrator for FINRA (dispute resolution arm of SEC)
May 2024 – Present
Artist in Residence, Lancaster Art Vault, Lancaster, PA
Jan 2021 – Dec 2023
Owner and Gallerist, ArtWorks Oriental, Oriental, NC
Oct 2018 – Feb 2019
Artist in Residence, Cherry Street Pier, Philadelphia, PA
Sept 2016 – May 2017
Artist in Residence, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2025
Nature's Ball, Lancaster Art Vault, Lancaster, PA
2017
Discarded, Lieberman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2026
Natura Wein, City Gallery, Vienna Austria
2025
Identity, Insa Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Tranquility, Gallerium Art, Artsy
The Woman of Contemporary Art, St. Art Gallery, London, England
Interior Art Open Call (winner) Golden Duck Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
Clio Art Fair, New York, NY
2023 - 2024
Grimaldi Art Gallery, New York, NY
2019
Daesan Museum of Art, Daesan, South Korea
2021
Red Dot-Spectrum, Art Basel, Miami, FL
ArtExpo NYC, New York, NY
2020
MUSA International Women’s Essence Show, Palazzo Velli Expo, Rome, Italy
Fluid Transitions, Da Vinci Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
2019
ArtExpo NYC, New York, NY
2018
Earth, Tubac Center for the Arts, Tubac, AZ
PAM, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
2017
On the Verge, Alice C Sabatini Gallery, Topeka, KS
Making It, Hamilton Hall Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Wax Poetic, Fabulon Gallery, Charleston, SC
Orange is the New Black, Ashton Gallery, San Diego, CA
Scythia Mini Textile Art, 8th International Exhibit, Kherson, Ukraine
International Fiber Art Fair, Seoul, South Korea
Juried Exhibition
2016 - 2017
Making Marks, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA
Juried Exhibition
2016
Art Unleashed, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition
International Embroidery Museum, Chung Young Yang, Korea
Invitational
PMA Craft Show, Philadelphia, PA
Invitational
World of Threads International Exhibit, Oakville (Toronto), Canada
Juried Exhibition
Wunderkammern, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Invitational
2015
Do or Dye, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Invitational
Joint, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition
Domestic Landscape, Philadelphia, PA
Invitational
2016
International Embroidery Museum, Chung Young Yang, Korea
PMA Craft Show, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
