Biography

I often pause to think, where am I?

I am on the “other side” of my life. I have successfully run the “uphill race” side of life, and am in the luxurious position to enjoy this wonderful, exciting, positive “other” side of life. I am now more of an observer than the participant that I used to be. I am no longer striving to build a career or leave something for posterity.

I was a sculptor for 17 years, then life handed me some dramatic changes. I have moved into a different phase — a new life. When I sculpted it was like being in love. The adrenaline surged through me… my hands moved as if they were guided by an unknown force … my mind was focused and clear. The work was an obsession and I was ecstatic.

Just recently, having found an extraordinary teacher, I am finally attaining the magical moments of transcendent space. One of the reasons it was vital for me to make the transition from sculpting to painting was to be able to paint the people I see as I travel the world.

From beneath my silver hair I now observe life and look for balance. I look at people in different countries and wonder and watch what motivates them. How have their motivations shaped their lives? What has life handed them and what have they chosen to take with them in their journey?

I want to paint people in the life they are living, whether they chose it, or it chose them. I want to show the inner life: the woman from Mexico who has 20 children, and who several times a year goes to Atotonilco, a local church that preaches and encourages self -flagellation. She had just returned from a week of flagellation when I met her. I look at this woman when I paint her… how could she have sinned? She has no life other than raising 20 children and surviving in a poor culture. The church, which is her guidance, her spiritual leader, tells her she lives in sin and must spend time beating herself. Her life was formed, even before she started. Did she ever have other choices? Yet, as I paint this woman, Marta, she has a ready smile, and a real joy in her eyes as she sees you, or sees her friends. Whatever life has done to this woman, she still sees the joy.

Or the young girl-woman who came into my studio selling rocks. She is 13, and looking into her eyes, you see the pain of countless women with few choices in their lives. This girl, with the body of a mature woman, has such a soulful look. I try to capture this on canvas — the look that tells the world, “I know the life I have chosen to live this time, and it is not easy”. In this 21st century, does she have more choices than Marta?

Estelle is a campesina … she is from the country or small village. She has had little or no education, and her world will be very small. Now, with the intrusion of television, I wonder whether her life be enriched or will it give her a feeling of dissatisfaction? Or will it, in perhaps some way, open doors that her mother would not have thought possible?

I look at the pure delight of the Mexican people as they participate in their festivals. The singing and dancing goes on for hours into the night. They work so hard and long, yet they have time for fun, celebrating and the joy of living. As I watch them interact with their families, I realize how much we Americans have lost in our fast-paced lives.

I’ve noticed something else. The Mexicans and the Guatemalans have a wonderful way of living in the moment… the joy that only living “in the now” can bring. They already know their past has not been easy, and they do not dwell there. They also know their future will probably not be any different than all of their yesterdays. They find their love and fun now. They both, and especially the Guatemalans, have such love and light in their faces.

When you walk down the street and greet a Guatemalan, their love of life touches their eyes as they say hello or nod to you. We, as Americans, look down on these people. They are backward, undeveloped and without advantage. True, they do not have the electronic toys we have. True, they do not have closets full of clothes they will never wear. True, they do not have new cars or the latest computer. But they have something we do not have… something we have lost. The pure and simple love of life. As I watch the Guatemalans, they are clean, have clear skin, clear eyes and incredible posture. They are not food poor, they are not joy of life poor, they are only “thing” poor. So, at the end of our lives, which culture really develops the richer individual? Those who have lived in the moment with lives full of joy, or those who have lived in the future with lives full of stuff?

My goal – to travel the world and capture as much of life as I can, and express on canvas the people I see and meet. I want to share with you some of the people in my life. I hope that with your eyes, you can see their pain, their resiliency, their joy, their lives.