Biography

I was born in Victoria BC in 1950 and attended UVic 1968 to 1978, graduating with a BSc in Biology.

From 1975 to 1981, I participated intermittently in an art therapy program in Victoria.   In that shared studio, I learned that my subconscious speaks in a constantly evolving visual language.  Also in 1975, I met Dr. Jim Tucker, Victoria MD and acupuncturist.  It is through Dr. Tucker that I was exposed to Buddhist ideas concerning the relationship of body, mind and spirit. I continue to work with him to this day.

From 1972 to 2007 I was based in the Rocky Mountain National Parks where I worked as a park naturalist. For 6 years within that period I worked in Yellowknife and Edmonton  as a conservation education officer.

In 1987, I enrolled in the Alberta College of Art in Calgary, graduating in 1991 with distinction in painting.  Art school added knowledge of studio practice and art history.  I could relate to Kandinsky’s “the spirit in art” and to Abstract Expressionism’s spontaneous use of paint.  Surrealism’s drawing on the subconscious was a process akin to that learned through art therapy. Helen Frankenthaler’s tender stained canvases and Pollock's woven skeins of paint both spoke to me.    

In 1992, I gave birth to my son and continued the practice of my art and my vocation as a naturalist around the demands of motherhood.

In 2007, I relocated to Victoria to see my son through high school and to care for my mother. I left the Rockies and took up full time residence in Victoria in 2012.  I continue to paint out of my small studio in Rock Bay Square and to maintain my relationships with the natural world.