Rightful Places

As a high school freshman in Lansing, Michigan, my English teacher told me to write. But life interrupted. Married at 18, I went on to get a degree in business at Michigan State University and worked for the automotive industry for many years. I didn't pick up pen and paper and put my thoughts down until thirty years later.

The same with my artwork. As a young girl, I would spend hours drawing from Archie comic books at my grandmother's table. She would save newsprint in the drawer of her old bureau in the dining room and buy new pencils for me. Simple, magical things they were. But, like writing, the artwork fell by the wayside.

The blessings in my life were spending summers on my grandparents' farm in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. My parents' families homesteaded at the western end of the UP back four generations. I grew up with a strong and lasting connection to the land and the people. Many of my stories and poetry are recollections of those people.

At 50, I moved from Michigan to the foothills of the Catskills in New York. It was a major transition for me. My artwork went from realism to abstract forms. Until that point, my paintings had been structured, much as my life had been...and then it just became fuller and more vibrant! I did not have formal training in art but learned through observation. I have met many fine artists in that journey and am thankful for their inspiration.

I now share my home in upstate New York with my daughter, Caitlin and her husband, Les. I share our great grandparent's farm in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with my sisters and mother and spend more time there in the summer months since retiring last fall. My mother, sister, brother and many cousins still call the UP their home.

Life is constantly evolving. I am hopeful that through the mental and visual images I create I can share some of the wonder we all share on this good earth.