I keep saying art is a wonder drug that needs no prescription and can’t be overdosed. Creating art releases endorphins in the human body…the natural feel-good hormone!
Becoming an art teacher was a practical outlet for my creative proclivities. Early on I navigated a safe path…marrying, teaching and raising a family. When my husband died suddenly in 1996, I threw myself into my art to stay focused on living and valuing each day. Life is precious. Someone once told me that people go through life as though it were a dry run for the real thing. Well, I didn’t want to squander it and become morose, negative, and hostile. My camera became my lifeline and without any pre-conceived ideas of an ultimate destination, I just let the creative process carry me forward.
I believe in the Asian idea of the invisible thread…that unbeknownst to us there are people we are destined to connect with no matter how many twists, turns and kinks need to be unraveled to do so. Such was the case when water-colorist Ward Hooper and I connected on social-media in 2015. Our creative energy and spirituality exploded and a collaborative art exhibition in 2016 led to our award-winning visual memoir Parallel Perspectives: The Brush/Lens Collaboration, published and distributed by Simon and Schuster in October 2020. No time for negativity. In the midst of the Covid pandemic this book is spreading creativity, positivity, and inspiration to all who read it and attend our actual and virtual book talks.