I was born in Gorman, Texas in 1942 to an owner of a gas station and a house wife. I had three brothers, now two, who are much older than I... old enough to be my fathers instead of my siblings. I attended North State University in Denton, Texas. I studied education but wanted to study the arts. It wasn't practical in my father's eyes to study drawing and painting. Not until 25 years of marriage and two children entering high school did I find the time and energy to pursue something for myself. I attended New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM and in 1988 received my Bachelor of Fine Arts with emphasis in painting and drawing. In 1989 I was accepted in the graduate program at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. I moved to Albuquerque and pursued my ultimate passion, painting. Separated from my husband and children caused me to reflect upon my role as mother and wife. I began to discover my inner voice and spirituality, and I started to write and reflect upon my childhood memories and feelings. I became fixated on my mother's life. She led such an oppressed life. I am determined not to repeat her pattern. My paintings became my siren to speak out. I used thick paint and vibrant colors. My subjects were "boxed in" or strapped into spiked high heel shoes. They were squeezed into small spaces trying to get out. Often I used a tall, narrow, thin canvas to confine my subjects. They looked as if they wanted to cut through the stretcher and set themselves free. Not feeling the constraints of a confined role of mother, sister, daughter or wife, I finally felt on my own. Free. I became involved with a family of artists and performers. We formed a Butoh performance group. Butoh is the ancient "dance of darkness". We found our inner child, re-experienced our own births, addictions and deaths. We indulged in whipped cream fights and practiced losing our inhibitions. We had large dinner parties that always ended in hours upon hours of laughter, dancing and performing. My creative and artistic life no longer reacts to political or external personal issues, but involves my inner life. I use tar, encaustic and gold leaf in my paintings, layering one on top of another, time and again. I then dig back through the layers as an archeologist digs, to find some form, some clue to my own expression. Presently I am engaged with experimenting with my inner resources (ideas and feelings) and translating them into some abstract vocabulary of color and form. These colors and forms become gestures in paint and my language, my voice, my way of expression. I live in Carson, New Mexico in a house and studio I built myself. In addition to painting, I taught third grade at San Juan Pueblo elementary school. Currently I am represented in Santa Fe by the Zane Bennett Gallery, 826 Canyon Road (505) 982-8111 and in Taos, NM by Open Space Gallery on the Plaza Telephone:
505-751-4139
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