Being an artist is in my DNA. As a child I was always drawing and creatively entertaining myself. So, my grandmother taught me to sew ... before I was even old enough to go to school. Armed with a needle and thread and some of her scraps, I started making all my own doll clothes and she would inspect them, telling me how to make them better. At age 12, I designed and constructed my very first full outfit on "her" sewing machine. (After much begging, of course!) From that point on, I started creating all my own clothes. That continued through most of my adult years until I no longer had the time around a busy IT career. I’ve always been an artist striving to get my work “out there,” even during those earliest years. I’m compelled to transform my surroundings, create visual beauty, and think in creative ways. It’s just part of my life’s algorithm. How do you put a square peg into a round hole? My dearest friend humorously says, “You use a bigger hammer, of course!” I say, "You find a creative solution." So I began combining photographed embroidery works with other graphics and digital painting – deconstructing and reconstructing bits and pieces to create a whole new work. It’s sort of like a virtual mixed media technique that has even greater possibilities. I soon discovered that I could custom print on fabric to produce my own textile designs and visually express myself without limits. I could also make purposeful and functional pieces of any kind. I was completely unrestrained from traditional art training so I could defy all non-functional norms. I want my work to be refined and classic with it's own personality while bringing beauty to its immediate surroundings. It should be the final touch, the signature piece within each moment. I want every woman to feel extraordinary when they use or look at my work. It's purposefully made to tickle the senses and feast the eyes...to emotionally carry you to other worlds of time and space. It's thoughtfully designed to emphasize, side by side, a comforting familiarity along with a mysterious sense of beauty. Life is a blank canvas and you choose to be your own masterpiece by how you frame yourself, and, your surroundings. That’s why I do what I do.
