Artist Statement
I draw with thread. I’ve chosen to work with this material because thread can say things that can’t be communicated in any other medium. It is very familiar to us and yet somehow very intriguing. There is constant cutting and mending, allowing the work to continually evolve until completion.
Each piece is begun by machine stitching multiple intersecting black lines on water-soluble material. Shapes begin to appear in the negative spaces, suggesting content. Images of my subconscious begin to reach the conscious as a quiet conversation takes place between myself and the art. The work continues to develop intuitively from there. The stitching is a meditative process requiring me to be present in the moment.
A peculiar thing happens when the works are exhibited. At a distance, they appear to be prints; only when you get closer are you surprised to see they are only fragile thread. As a result, there is an intimacy created between the viewer and the art.
My intention is to communicate a message of resilience and strength with an understanding that despite life’s challenges, everything will turn out okay in the end.
Artist CV
Lives and works in Largo, Florida
EDUCATION
2002 Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Master of Interdisciplinary Studies:
Painting and Fibers
1992 Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Master of Art Education
1986 Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Bachelor of Fine Arts Cum Laude Graduate
ADDITIONAL EDUCATION
Arrowmont, Gatlinburg, TN Summers 1995 and 1998
Hand Workshop, Richmond, VA Summers 1995 and 1996
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025 Faces of Addiction, Dunedin Fine Art Center
Dunedin, FL
The Mandala Project, Florida Craft Art,
St. Petersburg, FL
2024 Excellence in Fibers IX, Pacific Northwest Quilt and
Fiber Arts Museum, La Conner, Washington
Small Expressions, (Touring Exhibition) Handweavers
Guild of America
The Mandala Project, Florida CraftArt
St. Petersburg, FL
Annual Members’ Show, Florida CraftArt
St. Petersburg, FL
Excellence in Fibers IX, Fiber Art Now Magazine
Winter 2024 issue
Creative Pinellas Arts Annual
Largo, FL
They Had No Time To Say Goodbye
Invited Artist for collaborative project with
Rose Marie Prins (New Mexico)
2023 Inner Sense, Art Fluent Gallery, Boston, MA
“I”-Identity”, Gallery 201, Brooksville, FL
Ghost Stories, Florida CraftArt, St. Petersburg, FL
2019 Artists/Educators, Imagine Museum
St. Petersburg, FL
2014 Artists/Educators, Gallery 120, Largo Library
Largo, FL
2013 Artists/Educators, IRB Art Center
Indian Rocks Beach, FL
2012 Artists/Educators, Gallery 120, Largo Library
Largo, FL
2010 Artists/Educators, Osceola Gallery
Clearwater, FL *Award: Best in Show
The Way Forward, Morean Arts Center
St. Petersburg, FL
2009 Small Expressions, Handweavers Guild of America
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL
2008 RE: Member September, Morean Art Center
St. Petersburg, FL
2007 Annual Members’ Exhibition, Morean Art Center
St. Petersburg, FL
2006 PCSB Art Faculty Exhibition, St. Petersburg College
Clearwater, FL
Ephemera, Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg, FL
15th National Open Media, Art Institute Gallery
Salisbury, MD
2005 Florida Craftsmen Winter Show
Florida Craftsmen Gallery
St. Petersburg, FL
Winter Exhibition, Morean Arts Center
St. Petersburg, FL
Artists/Educators, St. Petersburg College
Clearwater, FL
Invitational 2005, Center for the CreativeArts
Fredericksburg, VA
It’s a Small World, Center for the Creative Arts
Fredericksburg, VA
2004 Florida Artist/Educators
Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo, FL
Artists/Educators, J. Harrison Gallery, Clearwater, FL
Eye: Mirror of the Soul, Center for the Creative Arts
Fredericksburg, VA
2003 Fiber Directions 2003, Wichita Center for the Arts
Wichita, KS
2002 Small Works, Nexus Gallery, New York, NY
*Award: Best 2-d Work
Drama of the Ordinary
Anne Arundel College, Arnold, MD
2001 Small Works Invitational, Center for the Creative Arts
Fredericksburg, VA
Eclectic Expressions: Works by Southeastern
Textile Artists
Atlanta Museum of Art and Design, Atlanta, GA
Decorative Mathematics: The Geometry of Quilts
Clayton Street Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Strange Bedfellows, Center for the Creative Arts
Fredericksburg, VA
Scanners III, Colonial Art and Frame
Fredericksburg, VA
Eye: Mirror of the Soul, Center for the Creative Arts
Fredericksburg, VA
2000 Small Works, Nexus Gallery, New York, NY
On the Road: Inner and Outer Journeys
Center for the Creative Arts, Fredericksburg, VA
Spotlight 2000: American Craft Council Southeast
Regional Show
Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA
Fantasy, Myth and Reality:
Handweavers Guild of America
Cincinnati Convention Center, Cincinnati, OH
Small Expressions 2000, Carnegie Visual and
Performing Arts Center, Covington, KY
1999 Encaustic Works 1999, R and F Encaustics
Watermark/Cargo Gallery, Kingston, NY
Diversity 1999, Medical College of Virginia
Richmond, VA
Northern Virginia Community College
Invitational Show
Woodbridge,VA
Small Expressions 1999
Handweavers Guild of America
Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS
Art, Poetry and Prose, Center for the Creative Arts
Fredericksburg, VA
Fredericksburg Fiber, Eyeclops Gallery
Fredericksburg, VA
1998 Members’ Winter Show, Center for the Creative Arts
Fredericksburg, VA
Uniquely Fredericksburg, Center for the Creative Arts
Fredericksburg, VA
1997 An Uncommon Thread, Center for the Creative Arts
Fredericksburg, VA
CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE
Assistant Curator, In the Company of Women, Center for the Creative Arts, Fredericksburg, VA 2002
Assistant Curator: Winter Blues, Center for the Creative Arts, Fredericksburg, VA 2002
Curator, Lee Malerich: Fiber Art, Center for the Creative Arts, Fredericksburg, VA 2003
COMMISSIONS
First Night Fredericksburg, Event Logo Design, 1999
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Art Educator, Pinellas Schools 2003-2022
Art Educator, Virginia Public Schools, 1986-2003
WORKSHOP EDUCATOR
Teaching Artist, Pinellas Schools Art Educator District Training Clearwater, FL 2023
GRANTS
2025 VISIBLE: Seen AND Heard
Creative Pinellas Arts Impact Grant
2007 Picturing Me: Developing Personal Voice
Through Photography
National Art Education Foundation
2001 The Wildlife of the Rappahannock River
Virginia Commission for the Arts