The Hutch Painting

I didn’t make art for 40 years. Then I picked up a paintbrush in my fifties and my journey began. During those 40 years. I created and nurtured my five best works of art: my children. Along the way, I published four children’s books, inspired young minds as a teacher, and crafted words as an editor. Growing up in a suburb of New York City, I was the third of seven children. Our house was a happy, boisterous place—where all manner of stray animals, people and children gravitated—and where I first found my love for drawing and painting. Art was my favorite subject in high school, but after graduation, I went off to college to study journalism, then worked in New York City for CBS News and the Condé Nast Publications. Later, I married my high-school sweetheart and this crazy thing called life happened: kids, college, work, and two long-distance moves, which put me on autopilot for many years. In 2018, when my house was suddenly quiet, I began creating art again. I picked up where I left off 40 years ago, first drawing graphite portraits and re-acquainting myself with watercolors, then moving into acrylics and mixed media. I’ve spent the past several years re-immersing myself in art theory and practice, having completed the 12-week ART2Life program, Jane Burton’s Fearless Abstraction, and numerous other art workshops. I’m especially drawn to the work of Helen Frankenthaler, Willem deKooning, Mondrian, Richard Diebenkorn, and Claude Monet. My life revolves around family, friends, travel, gardening and art. I feel very fortunate to do what I love every day.