Ever since I can remember, I loved to make things. As a child, I spent many hours painting rocks, followed by stitching felt ornaments, then soldering circuit boards to build Heathkit speakers and a television with my dad.
When it came time for college, I was lucky to have a high school art teacher suggest I go to art school. And lucky to have parents that held their breaths and let me. There, an instructor told me females were better suited for illustration careers, so I headed into advertising. I spent a decade as an art director in Detroit, Denver and ended up in Holland, MI, where I co-founded an agency. Eventually I did end up working as an illustrator for clients such as the Wall Street Journal, Children's Television Workshop and NPR.
After many years spent in front of a computer, I was ready to get back to working with my hands. Luckily I stumbled onto the amazing artist Nancy Crow who teaches improvisational piecing. This proved to be the perfect match for my meditation practice. Each piece I work on is created as I go, so I’m always responding to the situation in front of me on the design wall, not spending time up in my head with theories and ideas. Every day in the studio is a surprise, sometimes even a good one.
I now happily spend my days cutting and sewing fabric and more recently painting and gluing paper. I'm back to making lots of things. Lucky me.
Image above: Akimbo, detail, 84" x 84"
When it came time for college, I was lucky to have a high school art teacher suggest I go to art school. And lucky to have parents that held their breaths and let me. There, an instructor told me females were better suited for illustration careers, so I headed into advertising. I spent a decade as an art director in Detroit, Denver and ended up in Holland, MI, where I co-founded an agency. Eventually I did end up working as an illustrator for clients such as the Wall Street Journal, Children's Television Workshop and NPR.
After many years spent in front of a computer, I was ready to get back to working with my hands. Luckily I stumbled onto the amazing artist Nancy Crow who teaches improvisational piecing. This proved to be the perfect match for my meditation practice. Each piece I work on is created as I go, so I’m always responding to the situation in front of me on the design wall, not spending time up in my head with theories and ideas. Every day in the studio is a surprise, sometimes even a good one.
I now happily spend my days cutting and sewing fabric and more recently painting and gluing paper. I'm back to making lots of things. Lucky me.
Image above: Akimbo, detail, 84" x 84"
