There I was in kindergarten, a four-year-old struggling with runny tempera paint, trying to make the grass look like it does after it rains... Tickling a canvas with paint to bring out the emotions and moods colors can produce, has been a lifelong process sometimes fun, sometimes a learning experience.  I've always loved being creative so whatever medium was available worked great for me; ceramics, jewelry making & sculpture, silkscreen, oil, and watercolor painting, fabric, photography, and even filmmaking.

I grew up in Kansas City loving the wonders of the Nelson Art Gallery, a treasure trove of the world's master artists.  I loved to sit and look at one of Monet's Water Lilies, but I'm sure the guards would cringe when I'd walk up really close to see the brush strokes.  

Art of some kind has always been important to me, so I earned my BFA from the College of Arts in Oakland. Then when my children came home with their traced, paint-by-number artwork I decided I had to do something about it.  I began teaching art in their classrooms (with the teachers sitting in the back doing the art along with the kids).  That interaction began my 35-year teaching career in incorporating art with learning for elementary students in the East Bay area of San Francisco.

One day, a few years ago I was in the fabric store and saw a book entitled "The Joy of Zentangle".  I was intrigued!  To me, "Zen" equaled calm, and "tangle" equaled difficulties.  How could they be joined together?  That answer has been a wonderful learning adventure, from studying online, teaching the tangles, to traveling to Rhode Island, to become a certified Zentangle teacher.  When my mom and daughter began to have health difficulties the mindfulness of working on the tangles was a wonderful help. As I worked on a tangle all the difficulties I couldn't do anything about would fade into the background.

Incorporating Zentangle with watercolors and acrylics is my next project. I look forward to working and sharing knowledge and techniques with the wonderful artists who live in the Verdes community.