As a little girl I just wanted to organize my mother's house. I desired beauty and did what I could to accomplish it. I would go into my mother's room and arrange the perfumes, makeup and jewelry that sat on her dresser. I dusted and arranged the perfumes and other items that were then arranged with good spacing to show off their lovely forms and colors. In our living room, I would diligently fluff and arrange the contrasting brilliantly hued pillows that adorned my mother's golden couch. This couch sat before heavy red drapes and on a mid-value violet carpet. I wanted each of the pillows just so, the red one next to the green one and not the gold one. The ugly ones were hidden in the back. I opened the drapes a certain degree to allow in the right amount of light. My mother received the same scrutiny whenever possible.

I did all this by instinct with no supervision. A divorced parent of three, my mother worked as a city employee and as an opera singer! I am the youngest and was raised by committee. As I did not misbehave much, I was often left to my own devices. I made neat the garden's grass and trimmed the rose bushes. I swept the front steps and polished our silver plate. I moved the furniture (as much as I could) to achieve the balance I knew it needed.

My vow to become an artist was made to Linda Chambers, my best friend at the time, in her bedroom in Philadelphia when I was still in elementary school.

As an artist my quest remains organization and beauty. I think I have always had the need to understand the human soul. For me, a pictorial analysis is natural. The first major painting I made in college was in response to my grandmother's death. The toll taken on my mother and the grief thrust upon us all had to be transformed to a tangible existence. My grandmother's death was the impetus for the painting, I understood, and I also understood that the work affected others who had no connection with my grandmother. The loss was a universal experience.

The themes that I continue to investigate include death (loss), love, joy, trust and other human mysteries and relationships, how we work them out with each other and our environment.

I am also quite taken with human protective camouflage. I believe we wear many "faces" to help us cope with our lives. I think about our many masks (disguises) and through my work I am aware that the truth is just beneath the surface. I hope to help people think about that. I hope that visual articulation of these concepts will make a difference. I am compelled to do the work. My hope, aside from making credible, esthetically viable works is to gain insight and truth via the process. 



Please come to one, two, three or all of my exhibitions coming up:

(in Chicago, Illinois)

1.Womanmade Gallery, 1900 (Historic) South Prairie Avenue (Faith 
Ringgold, juror,won first prize)

reception March 1, 6 to 9p.m. Exhibition runs March 1 to March 28, 2002

2. Nicole Gallery, 230 West Huron (between Wells and Franklin, 2 
blocks south of Chicago Avenue),

reception March 8, 5:30 to 9 p.m. Exhibition runs March 8 to April 27, 2002

3. South Shore Cultural Center Fine Art Gallery, Sapphire and 
Crystals, 7059 South Shore Drive

reception March 9, 6-9 p..m.  Exhibition runs March 8 to April 5, 2002

4. Scott Foresman Publishers, Glenview, Il. 1900 E. Lake Street 
(curator/contact Mary Ann Lea

  (847-486-2644)

  no reception, Exhibition runs now until April 30, 2002

5. (continuing) Museum of Science and Industry, Black Creativity 
Juried Art Exhibition 2002 until February 28, 2002