I grew up in the 1950s and ‘60s in Springfield, Illinois, a town without a single museum or arts center, and learned about art from books, my catechism, and the walls of our parish church. I drew all the

time – horses, Roman centurians, and my sister and  five younger brothers often became unwitting models as they slept. In those days career choices for girls were narrow: teacher, nurse, or secretary. After training and working as a nurse, I returned to school for the art education I craved and continued dual careers as both nurse and artist.

For over 40 years I’ve worked primarily with organ transplant and kidney disease patients in large teaching hospitals. I also serve as a volunteer with medical relief teams and disaster assignments have taken me from a refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodian border after Pol Pot (1980) to hurricanes Katrina (2005) and Sandy (2012), as well as numerous local catastrophes. In December 2016

I organized and accompanied a medical relief team and supply mission for the No DAPL (Dakota Pipeline) occupation at Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.

I taught college-level art (drawing, foundations, and contemporary issues) for fifteen years, and have written art criticism for periodicals and books. My work has been exhibited in the Pacific Northwest and throughout the US and is collected by museums and numerous private individuals. Political activism, travels in Europe, and time in the woods (where I now have my studio) keep me determined and nourished.