As a BFA candidate, I painted the figure for 4 years and continued the plein air work which I had started in high school. When I moved to Provincetown, MA in 1970, I became one of the few women fishermen unrelated to the boat owners’ families.  Immeasurably moved by the often intuitive intelligence and dogged courage of my “Mates” I took many slides of the workings of the fishing industry on these wooden boats in the changing light upon the water. Always planning to paint from these slides, I continued my plein air practice, honing my skills so I could bring the spirit of working from life to the paintings I intended to paint from my slide references. The slide imagery included documenting the failed rescue of a beached boat and a burning wharf. But as I looked at the half dozen works I had completed, it became obvious to me that my true calling is the portraits of these fishermen at work, at rest, sometimes under stress. The five years I spent laboring on these antique boats significantly altered my philosophical and visual perspectives. I hope the emotional impact is present in my paintings for my viewers.

I strive to bring intense brilliance and emotional presence to my paintings. Seeing is paramount. Emphasis is important to convey my visual interpretation.  Even without the elements of typical portraiture, painting the light, atmosphere, a sense of time challenges me.