MEET THE ARTIST
I am a full-time studio artist residing in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Fiberarts from Kent State University in Ohio. I was Professor of Art and Head of the Fibers Program at Kutztown University from 1992-2011, and I have taught at several other universities around the country.
I was a child artist and began stitching under the influence of my third grade art teacher and early mentor, Joan Veleff, who also awakened my desire to teach. (I noticed that she enjoyed travel and studio time in the summer and was not dependent on the financial support of a husband.) Under her direction, my artistic talent developed… a lucky thing because I could barely learn to read.
Travel has always been a source of inspiration, particularly closeups of antiquity in Venice, Antonio Gaudi’s architecture, Moroccan tile patterns and glorious sites like Machu Picchu. My background in weaving informs a love of repeat pattern, and hand embroidery or obsessive sewing machine stitching are prominent in my work, because empty space makes me a bit nervous. I enjoy deconstructing familiar images and text so that they can be “read,” but not logically, and abstracting familiar yet provocative forms.