My passion for art took hold early in life as a teenager growing up in a small picturesque New England town, steeped in seafaring history and surrounded by beautiful forests, rivers, freshwater ponds and the Atlantic Ocean.
The extraordinary natural beauty in this and other locations has continued to inspire me throughout a long creative journey that started in Newburyport, Massachusetts in the early 1950s with oil painting and life drawing classes with a local artist and teacher, Sam Sargent, at the Sargent School of Painting. At that time I was encouraged by my high school art teacher to attend the Junior-Senior Prize Program at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.
Years later, after college, marriage, a growing young family and a permanent move to Arizona, I resumed oil painting and studied with Don Ruffin at his studio near South Mountain in Phoenix doing still life compositions, portraits, and a few desert scenes.
The transition from Northeast to Southwest brought with it the excitement of an entirely new visual landscape. The Arizona desert, with its variety of unusual cacti, soft desert colors, gorgeous sunsets, wide open spaces, unusual terrain with amazing rock formations, radiant light and sunshine and the awe-inspiring beauty of Sedona and the Grand Canyon, profoundly inspired my artwork.
For about two years starting in 1969, I studied acrylic painting, design and color theory, life drawing and watercolor painting with Dorothy Fratt, a well-known, highly regarded contemporary artist and a fabulous teacher, mentor and friend. Dorothy’s classes were life-changing and transformative. They were small, informal and designed to maximize painting experiences for a full exploration of color. She was enthusiastic, inspiring, and shared her art library, catalog collection and vast knowledge of classic and contemporary art with her students. She also introduced us to exciting art collections such as the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, the Barnes Collection in Philadelphia and the Cone Collection in Baltimore, just to name a few.
When she heard that Bob and I were planning a trip to Italy, starting in Florence, she was excited and suggested many famous works of art to see. She knew the exact museum, gallery, church, monastery, chapel and piazza where we would find each of the treasures. After she completed the list she said: “And, be sure to see the Giotto frescoes in Padua.” We did and the experience was beautiful — a small, intimate, light-filled, quiet and peaceful chapel decorated with the soft sublime time-worn colors of the frescoes.
Dorothy was kind, gentle and very helpful with critiques. She encouraged her students to enter juried shows, take chances, and if a rejection letter arrived in the mail, to be able to put it in perspective – all helpful advice for moving on in the future. With her guidance I was gradually developing my own voice or style of painting and I had my first solo exhibit in 1973.
Since then, my artwork has appeared in many galleries, juried art exhibitions, and museums in the southwest, where it has received outstanding awards and recognition. It is also represented in numerous private and corporate art collections.
In 2007, I took time from painting to finish writing a family history that I had been researching for many years. Finally, in 2010 after “Remember Me To The Little Ones: A Family History” was published, I returned to painting full-time.
In 2017, I was delighted and privileged to have the opportunity for a solo exhibition of my artwork at the Shemer Art Center, a unique and charming restored historic home dedicated to supporting and showcasing Arizona artists. The show was well attended, and I was especially thrilled to have the artwork viewed in the warmth and beauty of this “home for the arts”.