In my thirties and forties, I knew I was too focused on my art to devote the time needed to have a family. Over the years, a gradual change took place, and at forty-six, I found myself married to the most wonderful mother one can imagine—kind, enormously patient, and intuitive with children. From this wonderful person, I have learned much about what is important in life and feel so grateful to have been “adopted” by this wonderful family.

Our daughter Emily.The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. “I’m over the moon to share that my piece “Study IV, Southside” was recently accquired by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts @vmfamuseum!! so pumped to have this cyanotype find a home at a museum that I’ve been visiting since I was a kid. extra stoked that it’s a photograph of the James River. it feels surreal! 💙 On my most cloudy days, as a self-taught artist, it can feel like an uphill battle to get recognition or opportunities without an art degree, as if I’m inherently unqualified because

I designed this window for Tanden Friends School in 2001. We sent our children to this small Charlottesville, Virginia, school modeled after the transcendentalist. There were only 220 children in the 5th through 12th grade. Small classes and intimate relationships proved vital to our children’s development. They thrived academically and emotionally, earned impressive scholarships, and now live self-directed, meaningful lives. We knew we had found the perfect academic community for our children from the beginning. We were all so grateful that we decided to create something special to show our appreciation while they were students. I started designing the

I was not a happy teenager. Tired of having my life micro-managed, I began to withdraw. I wasn’t the type to cause trouble; I never saw it as a productive way to solve problems. I resigned that in a few years, I would be on my own and could live my life as I wanted. As our children began to experience their teen years, I started to look for creative ways that would have made my teen years more pleasant and productive, hoping to pass them along to our children. Taking them to work with me was a significant

When I was in college in Nacogdoches, Texas, I decided I wanted to live half of my life in the city and half in the country, half single and half married. This is the married county half. I like people. Meeting someone new was exciting and usually led to new experiences and insight into the human experience. It gave me an education about humanity that I couldn’t find elsewhere. It also helped me to learn more about myself. Watching people’s expressions and body language can often be more insightful than words. Observing how others organized and lived their lives