Bio

I am a self-taught collage artist originally from Lee, Massachusetts, a small New England town full of old paper mills. I studied English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst because I loved reading and language, and I have spent a majority of my life working in publishing. I came to art-making in my thirties at a difficult time in my life. My sister had cancer and was going to die. Around this time (2005), my friend set me up on a blind date with an artist, and he introduced me to collage. I discovered that making art was the only thing that calmed me down and took my mind off the terrifying prospect of losing my sister. So while that blind date didn’t lead to romance, it led me to another great love of my life: collage. I’ve been making art ever since, and it still serves this role in my life—a calming meditation (also, it’s fun and makes me happy). In this way, my art is a legacy of my sister’s life and the love we shared.

I currently live in Reno, Nevada with my husband and two dogs and spend as much time as I can working in my studio.


(Artist photo by Kelli Price.)


Statement

My work is a happy place. It is colorful and ordered. It is a place where all my collected memories converge and the subconscious makes itself known. It is a place where humor and joy mix with nostalgia and lonesomeness. Inspiration comes from the collage of life: a song lyric, a fragment of conversation, a stack of old magazines neatly aligned on a shelf. Elements are arranged carefully and methodically, while leaving room for the unexpected or imperfect. Visual harmony and design are important but so is magic, that is, the divine and mysterious. My work is often small, but the stories are big. Each collage contains multitudes.