River Nest, acrylic on canvas 58″ x 40″
This painting took a year to finish, but how many years have I spent studying the light on rocks and the curving flow of water?  River Nest is on its way to a new home in Denmark in a few weeks. I will miss it!

People often ask how long I’ve been working on a particular painting… It’s sort of a silly question.

I remember my doctor telling me that the surgery on my carpal tunnel would only take 20 minutes or so, which made the price seem exorbitant.  But she had spent 20 years perfecting her technique, which made the price seem insufficient.

I’ve always painted and sculpted. In childhood I painted with pokeberry juice; drew with charcoal sticks from a campfire and sculpted with rain-soaked clay dug up in the back yard. And eventually of course, with all of the student-grade art materials my wonderfully supportive parents helped me procure.

Now I paint with professional materials: light-fast watercolor; archival acrylics & oil paints. I use the finest papers and canvases that I can afford.

As a third grader making a Halloween sculpture with materials from my mother’s garden. Everyone else was making jack-o-lanterns. I had to experiment with different mediums!

My sculpture is created with clay prepared with specifically developed scientific formulas and fired in a high-tech kiln.

How long have I been working on my art?
How long have my eyes been open?
How long have I been studying shape, form, light and color, even before I realized I was doing it?

That’s how long I have been working on every painting, or sculpture that I create today.
My entire life!