"IT'S NOT DONE UNTIL IT'S OVERDONE"
I was born in 1950 in the greater Chicago area within a conservative, religious environment. I matured into an atheist. I served four years as a medic in the Strategic Air Command of the US Air Force. After an honorable discharge I enrolled in nursing school and graduated as an RN in 1980. I retired after a 34 year career in bedside nursing.
I have been drawing and painting all my life. I started embroidering during the Hippie era. I've taken a few drawing and painting classes but my embroidery is self-taught. Eventually I started combining techniques into mixed media.
My work is my response to my life experience which includes religion and my career as an RN. This is balanced with the joy and beauty that I frequently find in nature.
During the 1980s I made three panels for The Names Project, a massive "quilt" that brings attention to the AIDS epidemic. In 2013 I had a solo show of my embroidery at Rare Medium Gallery in Seattle. I have also shown my work at the fiber arts booth at Seattle's Folklife Festival.
Retiring at the end of 2014 from my demanding nursing career, my art has now become my focus. Each work takes time. Often it starts with a sketch which can grow into an embroidery or a painting. Drawings, paintings, and needlework can be collaged together and then repainted. I am never certain when a work is completed, therefore I remind myself of my mantra: "It's not done until it's overdone."