Biography

Born in 1948 to a military family, I am one of nine children. I traveled with my family from the East Coast to the West Coast and back, where my father retired in Virginia Beach, VA. In 1985 I moved to Montebello, VA, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Here I and my partner who is a design builder, Tim Behler, reside along with our dog and four cats.

Experience

Graduating from Old Dominion University with a degree in art education, my main focus was drawing and painting. I taught art in the Virginia Beach school system in elementary and high school. In 1972, when I was working with clay, I realized that if I quieted my mind and put the ego aside that my hands moved naturally and ancient-looking shapes appeared. With all my art training I felt like a student instead of a teacher. This started me on the long road to self-discovery through sculpting by moving meditation.

Sculpture has been a constant in my life since that time, even though I have had other careers to support myself. My last business was designing and installing gardens, in which I sculpted the earth and painted her with colors and textures. I'm dedicating the rest of my life to creating bronze sculptures full time.