A Murder of Crows

Biography

I have been creating art, teaching, and exhibiting nationally for over fifty years.  My career began as a clay artist, producing functional and sculptural stoneware from my Norwalk studio.  I created and led art tours to Japan, Greece, and Italy for thirteen years. and was an art teacher at New Canaan High School for twenty years, winning national and state art education awards. 

Upon retiring from public school teaching, I moved to the Northwest corner of CT. and established my studio at Whiting Mills.  I am presently drawing, writing, painting, and teaching private and group classes in my Winsted studio and offering workshops in encaustic techniques.  I exhibit nationally and work in a wide variety of media. 

Artist Statement

I am exploring the theme of Crows in this recent series of Encaustic paintings. Observing the intelligence and quirky gestures of these backyard birds led me to capture their personalities in paint.

In this work, I am incorporating my love for drawing, painting, and composing visual stories. The encaustic wax medium allows me to work in layers, trapping fragments of color, memory, and message in time.  Working with the molten wax on birch panels is engaging a mix of alchemy and jazz.  Colors are worked like chords until the metamorphosis of substance and meaning cools to a finished statement. 

Illustrations for the book Quarantine 2020, Through a Crow’s Eye were my response to the pandemic, the quarantine, and the national news. It takes us through the stay-at-home period of early Spring to the social unrest and protests of early June 2020. This documentary series of sketches, using a crow as a persona,  reflects what we were all experiencing during this historical time and hopefully, it connects with your own passage through the Spring of 2020.