About the Artist
I have long admired the graceful simplicity in Japanese art and design. Born to intrepid parents during the two-year period when they were living in Japan, I must have absorbed by osmosis the influence of the Japanese culture they found so captivating. Despite growing up in the most ordinary of places (suburban Fresno) I felt, somehow, exotic. My parents were creatives; teachers for whom the arts and travel were ardent interests. Frequent family visits to Yosemite forged a connection from my earliest years, but perhaps the greatest gifts my parents offered were their patience with my intensely inquisitive nature, and their wholehearted encouragement of my passions for ballet and drawing.
At the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara, I earned my BA in Studio Art. Following began chapter one of my Yosemite residence, when I retreated to the family cabin for some reflection. What exactly does one do with a degree in Fine Art? When few answers were forthcoming, I returned to school to earn a teaching credential from Sonoma State U, fully expecting that teaching would be my vocation.
I married my college companion, an avid outdoorsman who profoundly influenced my direction, and continues to inspire me with his keenly felt love of nature and the land. Encouraged by Yosemite friends dangling potential job opportunities, we returned to the park together for “a couple of seasons.”
The year was 1988.
Though teaching opportunities proved limited, living in Yosemite was a wonder. Husband, Mark, joined the National Park Service as a backcountry ranger, and I found satisfying work designing displays at The Ansel Adams Gallery. Reawakened by the beauty of the park, I began to paint again after a long hiatus. Overwhelmed by the grandeur of the landscape, I focused in on the small but extraordinary treasures that present themselves whenever one steps outside… a cluster of leaves, a feather, a branch.
In 1989 I entered my first new piece in the annual Yosemite Renaissance, a national juried exhibit. It was warmly received, won the award for “Best Painting,” and was purchased by the Yosemite Park & Curry Company. Success at other shows encouraged me to continue, and I scaled back my work at the Gallery to pursue art-making with greater dedication. We have resided through the years in various communities: Yosemite valley, Foresta, Yosemite West and El Portal. A recent move further down canyon to the foothills (necessitated by our son’s need for a high school education!) has done nothing to lessen my attachment to the park. It is with much gratitude that I reflect on my now decades-long residence, and my association with The Ansel Adams Gallery, through which my paintings have been introduced to multitudes of park visitors, the result of which has been the joy of seeing my art make its way into the collections of people from Singapore to Tasmania.
Yosemite has been the throughline. A recreational destination in childhood, a refuge that shaped my adulthood, an endless supplier of fascinating subjects to paint. Home.
Story Behind the Image
I am fascinated by birds in general, by their feathers in particular, and have made numerous paintings of feathers over the years. The birds that inhabit the Sierra are tremendously varied. Coming across a feather on the ground is like finding a wonderful little unexpected treasure. A feather seems to me to be a thing not only of beauty, but of unique strength and perfect design, an astonishing miracle of form and function, exemplifying beauty, strength and flexibility. Whether in the breast, back, wing or tail, each has a particular structure and pattern, to suit its position on the body, and its purpose. Each is slightly different from those on either side of it - and all work together in harmony, resulting in a perfectly functioning whole.
Every new painting brings with it an opportunity I look forward to, that of once again studying, in detail, these delicate objects which delight and amaze me. When composing with feathers, I continually find myself compelled to arrange them in a similar pattern. I eventually realized that this composition is familiar for a reason - it evokes the shape of a bird’s outstretched wingspan. Taking Flight: Seven Sierra Feathers, features a selection of feathers from some of my favorite Sierra birds. They are, from left to right: Mountain Quail, Steller’s Jay, Acorn Woodpecker, Great Horned Owl, Mourning Dove, Red-shafted Flicker and California Quail. The original painting received an award in the annual California Statewide Watercolor Exhibition.
Ordering Information
Original artworks are hand-made, and not all sizes are kept in inventory.
Special orders from the artist may take 4 to 6 weeks for delivery.
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