About my work

I was born in Chicago, raised in Los Angeles, educated and settled in the Bay Area.   Textile crafts were popular in the 60‘s and 70‘s and experimenting with yarn, jute and fabric took hold of me early, and continues to this day. 

A lover of worldwide travel, I brought beautiful textiles back from my adventures - beautiful embroidered Bedouin dresses, Greek woven wall hangings, scarves from Southeast Asia and treasured Bhutanese weavings. These pieces speak to me in a primitive, primal way. I love the texture, color and tactile qualities.

My love of textiles translated into a desire to create quilts. As a feminist from an early age, I’ve always appreciated women’s quilting tradition – the collaborative process, comfort in sharing our lives through cloth, support for each other in our personal as well as artistic growth and a shared passion to express ourselves through textiles. 

My work life revolved around Public Health, and after completing graduate school, I embarked on a thirty - year career in that field. These two halves of the whole also embraced motherhood and the raising of two daughters. Recently retired, I now spend more time in my studio exploring the process of creation, and also having fun. 

I work organically – I rarely have a road map or know where I am going. I begin with a fabric or combination of fabrics that pops out at me and “asks” to be used. I listen to the fabric and then the pieces guide me. Sometimes a piece comes together quickly, other times a length of fabric is on my design wall for many months before I am inspired to begin. 

Most recently I have worked with my own hand dyed fabric, produced using various dyeing techniques, most often Japanese shibori techniques (resist-dyeing methods to make a pattern by binding, folding, twisting and compressing). I enjoy the tension of the known and unknown with dyeing process. I experiment with numerous techniques - seeking to discover what resonates with me. I’ve explored screen-printing, painting on fabric, the use of photos, and integrating metal, into my finished works.

Textiles are an expression of people’s lives.  In contemporary society, textiles and quilts are a tactile expression of the world around us. My quilts reflect my visual impressions of time, place and the atmosphere of places I’ve traveled and where I live.

Through exploring texture, color and design I strive to create harmony and visual interest through the synergy of these elements. I wish to linger over a piece - continuing to be surprised and interested in what I see and experience. I hope the viewer shares this experience.