Having been born with a need to create, my parents told me I drew and painted on every surface I could get my little hands on! An Aunt gave me a sewing machine at the age of 7 and that lead to a passion for sewing. I was soon drawing, designing and making my own patterns and selling Barbie Doll clothes to every girl in the neighborhood. As a teen I quickly became known as designing and sewing outstanding prom gowns. I also became very involved in theatre which fit my creative spirit and lead to my study of historic costumes. I have been fortunate to have worked with some amazing people in my career.
While raising my children I understood the importance of providing a creative outlet for them as well as myself. During my children's early years I wrote and received grants to create traveling participatory puppet theatre and the children's theatre based on participation and improvisation. During this time I always had a painting in the process and was exhibiting. I also worked with the publishing houses as a historic costume consultant and am very proud of the work I accomplished with noted children's book illustrators.
For several years I worked with choreographers to create and produce costumes for theatre and dance. This lead to ownership of a fully fledged manufacturing facility creating thousands of costumes annually for over 25 years. This was a culmination of all my earlier skill sets as well as the ability to teach and translate to my employees of differing backgrounds, ethnicity and language skills my creative vision and designs and bring them to market.
Upon retiring and selling my business it became clear to me that it was time to take up my paint brush again. I became a certified instructor in the "Art 4 Every 1" program and have been teaching in rehab centers and senior centers for a few years and really enjoy the art of teaching. I am a firm believer in "When one door closes another opens". When I moved to Hampden and stopped in at the Senior Center to offer my art program, another opportunity opened for me as the Activity Coordinator and when asked my response is always...best retirement job ever.
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Shortly after moving to Hampden I was asked to become the President of at the Scantic River Artisans and feel very privileged to lead this group and be part of bringing art to Hampden.
