Spending all day with my dad at "the shop, "- the family owned silk screen printing company - was a multi- sensory adventure for me as a child. Smelling emulsions in the cavernous dark room; hearing the percussive sounds of the large presses; handling the different weights of paper; and watching dad carve away negative space around lettering with an exacto knife -- all fascinated me. As did "the morgue," a resource file cabinet bursting with type face and images. My affection for print, type face, paper and exacto knives prompted me to study graphic design. When I discovered colorful fabrics, texture, furniture and space planning, I studied and received a BA in Interior Design.
Working in Chicago, I frequently attended lectures and seminars at the Merchandise Mart sponsored by upholstery fabric manufacturers. Gorgeous full color brochures were distributed to entice designers to specify their Chintz or Mohair. I kept them all. Years later, as I purged my file cabinet, I couldn't part with the colorful, patterned and textural images on heavy paper.
When I began painting, I felt a surge of excitement...paper, paint, tools, handling the materials.... Flooded with fond memories, I entered a familiar place. I learned to first see, then draw and paint. Creating TEXTURE on the canvas using the PAPER treasures I saved (not knowing why). Thick PAINT and thin glazes reveal hidden PRINT. PATTERNs emege in the positive and negative spaces as I define my composition and create brightly COLORed IMAGES.
All my passions happy together.