I was born in Chicago, Illinois, in August of 1949. Although I was raised in a small town in Oregon, I always felt a connection to the big city. As a middle child of first-generation Polish parents, I heard many favorable stories of the neighborhoods in Chicago. My father, being a machinist, had a talent for drawing simple designs and enjoyed sculpting from wood or metal, which piqued my interest in drawing and observing from an early age. I took a class in pastel drawing as a 9th grader, and my first work was a rendering of a photograph of coffee bean pickers at a weighing window.
circa 1955
circa 1981
As my interest grew in my 20’s I also was interested in creating stained glass windows by cutting beautiful pieces of colored glass, many from Germany and Portland, Oregon.
I started doing commissioned paintings and glass creations to help make ends meet. People would bring me their vacation photos and ask me to paint a picture (often in oil) with certain features such as the mountains and a particular stream. I created my own glass patterns for those who wanted their front door to have leaded glass in lieu of clear glass or a window for a spa area, lamps, cabinet doors and many jewelry boxes. Later I did garden windows for my daughter.
circa 1967
Stained Glass Art
Continuing to develop my skills in oil painting, I later decided to take a class to learn more about watercolor, which was my second art class during my life. Most of my skills are self-taught, mainly by observing nature, shadows, light, texture, and position. Twenty-six years after my first pastel, I did another with the same technique. It was a rendering of two men in a pub.
Traveling has always inspired my work such as Santa Fe and Taos; New Mexico; “Chi Town”, Inspired by Chicago; Japan and Japanese gardens; and Italy.
Two Men in A Pub | 1990 | Pastel, Framed
Springtime Maple | Watercolor
Deschutes | Watercolor
A few years ago, I also embarked on a series of paintings series of paintings called “construction art” in which I used oriented strand board as my canvas. In the last several years, I have been using oil for my abstract paintings and pastels and watercolors for my realistic paintings. I decided to paint a thematically combined series of paintings using both mediums by painting realistic/pastels and abstract/oils to reflect different perspectives on ancient cave paintings. My goal was to reflect, in some way, the commonality of all human experience, whether in the age of cave paintings or the age of the computer.
During my 73 years, I have developed many interests and have enjoyed painting in many genres such as florals, landscapes, seascapes, still life, birds, Japanese landscapes, early cave art from three French caves, construction art series on OSB boards, abstract, and most recently, abstract emotionalism, which is probably my favorite. I enjoy not being confined to a particular scene so others can relate to it. Expressing my feelings in art is probably the first reason why I began painting and continues to be why I find it satisfying. Marketing my work has never been my first priority since I was 30, and I’m not much of a salesperson. The process of creating is the most interesting from early realistic work to now more conceptual, such as “Life is a Balancing Act” and “Woven.”
As a married mother of three, I have had many jobs - I have been a bookkeeper; a legislative aide in the Oregon Senate; a Court Clerk for the Eugene Municipal Court; a Commissioner for the Lane County Commission on Children and Families; a Supervisor in a Credit Union department; and last but not least, a Commissioner for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. Throughout my life, I love gardening, sewing and cooking. I have also enjoyed architecture, interior design and landscaping, and have designed three houses as a result. Through all of this, I continue to paint and I would say it is very much an integral part of who I am and how I express myself.
I hope you enjoy what you see and if you are interested or have questions, please contact me.
