When I was eight I pulled a package out from under the Christmas tree and unwrapped a ream of 11 x 17 inch blank paper; that gift remains one of my life-long favorite presents. In high school I had intense conversations about the inaccurate naming of warm and cool colors, which my art teacher found frustrating. In college my Art 101 instructor told me I should consider a different major; I looked at his large painting of a purple wrench and wondered who named him ‘artist.’ That teacher’s words were the seed of experience which led me to understand I had to name myself artist, no one else could do it for me.
My path as a visual artist has been elusive and anything but straight. I work in multiple disciplines, often creating interdisciplinary works. I began making handmade books in 1997 and found a special home; this form can bring together in a single entity all I love to create in both written and visual language. In 2003 I established Artichoke Press; under my press name I publish handmade and fine press limited edition prints and books.
