About the Artist

ARTIST STATEMENT

”Beyond painting and gardening, I am good for nothing.” Claude Monet.

 I am a painter and landscape artist.  The interactions of earth,air, water and fire intrigue me and inform my art.  My favorite place to paint is the liminal zone: where ocean meets land, lakes lap the shore and rivers tumble over rocks.  Awash in sounds, light and wind, I hold on to my palette and paint my love of the world.  Fifty years of meditation help me observe the balancing act of the elements during the painting process. I trust in the wisdom of my sensations to paint me home.

I have a serious addiction to color and have burrowed deeply into the color theory of Johannes Itten.  My composition derives from the play of hues. In my abstract work, I invite the viewer to experience internal light through the play of color and form. To whet my appetite for fire, I follow the pilgrimage to Burning Man to create art on the playa.

My paintings are a prayer to heal myself and share my amazement with this big beautiful ever changing world.

BIOGRAPHY

Growing up in Ontario, Canada, most of my days were spent playing in the woods and the water.  My sisters who were partners in exploration are also wonderful artists.  From these experiences, I have deep connections and trust in the natural world.  In high school, I won a scholarship to Doon School of Fine Art.  After finishing school at Queen's University, where I spent a lot of time in the art studio, I ventured to India where I had many meetings with remarkable men and women. I found my path of meditation. While traveling, I would trade sketches for food and lodging when I was low on money.  Drawing and painting have been a constant in my life.  I met my husband in a monastery in Bodh Gaya, India.  We have two children and lived in Mendocino, California for twelve years.  I began gardening professionally there, creating romantic landscapes for inns on the Pacific Coast.  Monet had seventeen gardeners.  At one point when we moved to Marin, I had a cast of forty gardeners to help install and maintain the landscapes I designed.  My landscape company thrived and now my two children are in charge.  I am free to paint full time.  I love painting plein aire in California as well as on the shores of Lake Huron.  Connie Smith Siegel and Jackie Kirk are painters I have studied with.  I treasure their generosity of spirit.