Whether I’m painting landscapes, figures, narratives or making shaped images, the core of the work is always the same: to explore what I am seeing with curiosity, to let the process shape and change me, to be present with everything, to connect to a sense of aliveness.
Using water-based paints and mixed media, I work on paper to have the option to surprise myself by opening up new terrain by re-imagining pieces into irregular shapes. I often work in series, following what wants to come through me until an idea completes itself.
I tend to work from the outside in, drawing and painting what I see as a jumping off point: closely observing nature or beloved objects in my home, people in my life or the myriad strangers I pass on the street every day. In connecting with what’s outside of me I am led to what it is I am exploring on the inside: how we relate to one another and the humanity we share; how little separation there can be between the vast stillness of nature and the vast stillness one can find inside oneself. Sitting close to nature I feel a deep tenderness toward how all living things, like me, are in a constant state of flux. At best, my practice is an act of co-creation, letting the paint do half the work, listening to where a piece wants to go, rather than trying to control an image too tightly. I delight in communing with what’s ephemeral—that is, everything and everyone—and in using my imagination to create something I’ve never seen before.
I live and work in New York City.
Education
Bennington College, Bennington, VT
SUNY Purchase, Purchase, NY, BA
Esalen Institute Master Class with Leigh Hyams, Big Sur, CA
The Art Students League, New York, NY
Pat Adams, painting
Elizabeth Allison, painting
Arslan, painting
Sam Feinstein, painting
Frederick Franck, drawing
Michael Grimaldi, drawing
Leigh Hyams, drawing and painting
Nicki Orbach, drawing
Solo Exhibitions
Earthly Delights, LaGuardia Community College, Long Island City, NY, 2017
Group Exhibitions
Overlook Open Studios, Point Reyes Station, CA, 2014, 2016, 2018
Open Studios, Silks Building, Long Island City, NY, 2012, 2014
Master Class Exhibit, Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA, 2006, 2007, 2009
Small Works Show, Forman Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA, 2008
Essence of Providencia, Ocean Wonders, Providencia, Columbia, 2006
Up Close, La Serrania, Mallorca, Spain, 2002
Color 311, Cork Gallery, New York, NY, 2001, 2002, 2003
La Selva Mexicana, Gallery Luscomb, San Francsico, CA , 1998
Food for Thought, Civilization Gallery, New York, NY, 1997
Small Works Show, 80 Washington Square East Gallery, New York, NY, 1996
Residencies
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, 2015, 2017, 2022
Publications
SKY ABOVE, EARTH BELOW, art & text, HarperCollins
IF I WERE A DOG, art & text, Philomel Books/Penguin Random House
SORRY (REALLY SORRY) text, Philomel Books/Penguin Random House
THE ROTATING SPAGHETTI FORK, concept, art & text in collaboration
with Cris Cristofaro, Penguin/Perigee Books
Other
Editor of hundreds of books for children, as well as art director, writer, illustrator.
Private Collections
Amrita Ahuja, Robert’s Creek, BC, Canada
Patty Aiken, Bala Cynwyd, PA
Geraldine Ayers, Staten Island, NY
Sarah Barnaby, New York, NY
Keith Behrman, Sechelt, BC, Canada
Harry Bliss, Burlington, VT
Britt Block, McMinnville, OR
Maria Burtis, San Francisco, CA
Leo Chapman, New York, NY
Laura Cornell, New York, NY
Sharon Creech, Camden, ME
Jamie Lee Curtis, Los Angeles, CA
Kate DiCamillo, Minneapolis, MN
Sally Donaldson, Brooklyn, NY
Jean Feiwel, New York, NY
Eric Fowler, Palm Springs, CA
Lauren Delahunty, Raleigh, NC
Pete Fleckenstein, Farmington, NY
Jack Gillmar,Honolulu, HI
Elena Giovinazzo, Hartsdale, NY
Peter Hassinger, Brooklyn, NY
Heather Henson, Danville, KY
Elise Howard, New York, NY
Gina Hyams, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Kate & Don Jackson, Apex, NC
Raquel Jamarillo, Brooklyn, NY
Sue Kaplan, New York, NY
Jennifer Kelley Reed, Newton, MA
Paula Kravitz, Burlingame, CA
Michael Levine, Poughkeepsie, NY
Sue Hill Long, Portland, OR
Juan Martinez, New York, NY
Holly McGhee, New York, NY
Erik Morgan, Florence, MA
Jandy Nelson, San Francisco, CA
Debby Parsons, Los Angeles, CA
Emma Powers, Florence, MA
Tom Powers, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Molly Reiser, Victor, NY
Zan Mireille Romeder, Robert’s Creek, BC, Canada
Shirley Salzman, Point Reyes Station, CA
Tim Ungs, Danville, KY
Thomas Thornton Uhl, Linden, NJ
Phyllis Wender, New York, NY
