Endless Edge Studio

            When I was a teenager, I met a woman twenty years my senior who would become the most influential person in my life, as well as my best friend.  Her son and daughter were already my close friends in school.  What I most fondly look back and remember is her ability, in the midst of a very hectic, pressure-filled sales job, to find moments to relax and unleash her imagination.  Many late nights would find her sketching ideas, quilting, working on silver jewelry, beadweaving, sewing work clothes, using a jig saw, or upholstering furniture for the house.  I was convinced she could do most anything if she could find a book about her latest endeavor.  She was a World History buff, and a voracious reader, in spite of working 50-plus hours each week.  Any average person would have looked complacent next to her.  Along the way, she freely and generously gave away her knowledge and “tricks of the trade” secrets which only come with experience.  She often encouraged me with her kind words and gracious sense of humor.  She would frequently be driving down the road and talk about “composition” or “color vibrations”.  Often, she would read art history and technique books, and then discuss it with her most trusted confidants, which were all the kids in the neighborhood.

            I took up drawing in my late teens and early twenties, and then took the leap to painting.    Even with the drawing background, painting turned out to be a very different experience.  I struggled for the longest time with realism, but found I was quickly bored with that, and actually quit painting for a while.  Coming back to painting again some years later, I realized that I wanted to create paintings that I would like to own and display.  Along the way, I discovered my left eye had developed macular degeneration.  After seeing several retinal specialists, most of who agreed the probable source of my problem was a concussion I got at age nine, I learned that it was not repairable.  When I mentioned this to my friend, her reply “That’s okay, your brain records the best image possible … continue!!” was not out of character for her.  Although she is many times intrigued by my work, I think she too often forgets how she helped grow it from the beginning.

            My closest friend Mike has also, over the years, been a huge influence.  He not only originally introduced me to oil paints, but he also gave me constant encouragement to continue to paint, regardless of what others thought about my work.  Mike provides all the technical work for the website, as well as putting together show entries, from submitting applications to shipping, and that is no small task!

            I am grateful for the special people in my life who have influenced me in such a positive way.  I hope they, too, feel connected to, and proud of, my painting, because in some way they all share a hand in it.

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