About Me

My husband began teaching me to draw about fifteen years ago. When I began, I was convinced that I could never even draw the most basic image.

With his guidance, I began to really "see" for the first time. I was able to perceive how shapes are really presented to the eye, how outlines don't really exist, how shadows give shape to things.

Ever since, I have tried to practice seeing the real magic in nature and in all the things and people and creatures around me.

I am disabled, so sometimes that isn't very easy, but it's worth the effort. I have had Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) for many years. I was diagnosed in 1989, and, if you know anything about this disease, you know that it is extremely painful and ultimately crippling because it causes serious damage to all the joint tissues. This is unlike Osteoarthritis which, while painful, affects only certain joints and is caused by overuse. The current thought is that RA is caused by an immune disorder and is systemic.

I like to remember that I am not the only artist to suffer in this way. Renoir endured horrible pain and disfigurement from RA up until he died, yet he never stopped creating art. I am certainly no Renoir, but his story is inspiring to me. For more information on his life, about.com has a very readable article at http://arthritis.about.com/od/art/a/renoir.htm.

We all long for beauty, but the reason we long for it is because it is a physical representation of what is true: The Eternal.

Something to Think About...

"The pain passes, but the beauty remains."

Pierre-Auguste Renoir