I am the third of six children. My childhood was a full and happy one, spent largely out of doors and usually in the company of a sibling or two. Our father taught philosophy at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where our stay-at-home mother also earned her B.A. in art history, one course at a time.

Art was a presence in the house, but not a practice. Instead, we were encouraged to roam free in the landscape. Some days we’d bike the two miles to explore the nearest salt marsh,  other days we’d just wander the two blocks over to the college’s art museum to play the “If I could choose anything here” game. Twice we were carted off to spend sabbatical years in Italy, where we learned a new language and gobbled up the good food and great art in equal measures. And again, roamed free in the landscape. The beauty of my native state and of Venice and Tuscany have consistently informed and been the subject of my art.

After graduating from Smith College, I went on to receive an M.F.A. in printmaking from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which led to 25-year career in magazine and book design.

Now semi-retired, I live in western Massachusetts with my husband and son and spend most of my days painting. I still roam free in the landscape in the company of my golden retriever, another enthusiastic explorer of marshes. And I travel regularly to the Venetian lagoon where I gather material for the next year’s work.