STATEMENT
When I prep a large canvas for a painting with acrylics — or when I tack a blank sheet of Arches watercolor paper up — I welcome the nervous excitement of expressing myself with paint, charcoal, pastels, India ink, or maybe a mix of red dirt from the Berkeley hills. I do not find a large, white, gessoed canvas frightening — for me it is an opening into a part of me that needs to come out and be seen — it’s a deeply personal journey. I trust that process of expressive painting and am usually surprised at the results. I also am often frustrated and full of doubt.
I need to paint. I need it as much as I need to breathe. I am humbled and grateful I have found myself here — to wonder where all these colors, splatters, drips and scribbles come from.
And I want to express deep gratitude to Leigh Hyams and all I learned from her (or, perhaps I should more accurately say, all she pushed me into!). I stumbled into her painting workshops at Esalen on the California coast in 2008 and had no idea she would split me open like a watermelon. Thank you, Leigh.
EXHIBITIONS and SHOWS
2024 Solo show, 101-2nd St lobby, San Francisco CA (as sponsored by Slate Gallery in Oakland, CA)
2023 “Mixed Media” group show, Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael CA
2023 “2023–Gone Wild” online group show, Las Laguna Art Gallery, Laguna Beach CA
2020 “At Midnight” group show, Art On 30th Gallery, San Diego CA
2020 “California Dreaming” group show, Danville Art Gallery, Danville CA
2019 Solo show, Cardinal Point Gallery, Alameda CA
2019 East Bay Open Studios group show, Gray Loft Gallery, Oakland CA
2019 Solo show at Frank Bette Center for the Arts Satellite Gallery, Eyewise Optometry, Alameda CA
2018 “Exquisite Little Things”, Gray Loft Gallery, Oakland CA
2018 East Bay Open Studios group show, Gray Loft Gallery, Oakland CA
2017 Slate Contemporary Gallery, Oakland CA
2017 East Bay Open Studios, Oakland CA
2017 101 Second St lobby, San Francisco
2016 Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios, Oakland CA
2015 Exhibition at 201 California St, San Francisco
2015 Two-artist show at Jco’s Place gallery, Los Gatos CA
2015 Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios, Oakland CA
2014 Two-artist show at Jco’s Place gallery, Los Gatos CA
2013 Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios, Oakland CA
2013 Solo show at James Snidle Fine Arts & Appraisals, Chico CA
2012 Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios, Oakland CA
2012 Group show at Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland CA
2011 Sausalito Art Festival, CA
2011 Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios, Oakland CA
2010 Group Exhibition at Bridgehead Studios, Alameda CA
2010 Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios*, Oakland CA
2010 Mill Valley Arts Festival, CA
2010 Group Exhibition at Firehouse Gallery North, Berkeley CA
2009 Solo Exhibition at The Muse, Oakland CA
2009 Group Exhibition at Esalen, Big Sur, CA
2008 Group Exhibition at Esalen, Big Sur, CA
*my painting, “My Mother’s Teeth” was selected for the cover art for the director for 2010 East Bay Open Studios
COLLECTIONS
Contra Costa Health Foundation
Aglet Consumer Alliance
Nancy Thompson (private collection)
Kaiser Hospital in San Leandro (commissioned pieces)
Chu & Waters LLP, San Francisco
Mt. Diablo Financial Resources
BIO
I was born in Marin County, CA and grew up in the San Francisco bay area (in Mill Valley). Married young and lived in Oregon for 15 years; obtained a BFA in graphic design from California College of Arts and Crafts in 1989. I operate a freelance design business, Red Eye Design, from my home in Alameda, CA where I live on a floating home. I have two grown children, five grandkids and, yes, and yikes, two great grandbabies!
I’M HONORED TO SHARE THIS STORY.
Some time ago, my work was in a show in Chico at James Snidle Fine Arts & Appraisals. Art lover Thom Rose loved my egret painting, and bought a print of it. Last November I got a feedback message on my website from Thom (copied below; likely hard to read on small screens). The gist of it: “We saw the painting when it was in Chico, and fell in love with it. We had it framed and hanging on our wall as soon as we got it back from the framer. Unfortunately, it was burned in the Camp fire in Paradise, along with our home. Do you have any more prints?” After I found my box of Kleenex and recovered a bit, I called Thom and had another print made; the last one I will print. My neighbors chipped in and contributed to the print costs, and above right is a photo of the print in their new home in Nevada. I am deeply moved and honored by this. It is a great privilege to be part of this story of recovery.
