BIOGRAPHY

ESSENTIAL

I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (graphic design) and a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies degree (anthropology and communications), both from Wichita State University. I am a retired graphic designer and writer.

At mid career I sold my graphic design studio and took two years off to serve in the Peace Corps.

In Fiji I taught offset printing to disabled young adults and produced publications for agriculture.

Before and after Peace Corps, I traveled extensively to several countries on a handful of continents.

In retirement I have embraced studio arts and have won awards in juried shows. My paintings are in several private collections across the United States including that of The Koch Family Foundation. In addition to painting, my creative endeavors have included photography and darkroom work, and simple frame making.

 

EXISTENTIAL

My creative development started while a child at the feet of my father as he painted signs. His brush strokes ascended, descended, looped and joined gracefully in a swash or straight line. Before I could read the words he painted, I could appreciate the circular, vertical, horizontal, diagonal and serpentine brush strokes that formed letters that composed words.

Two decades later, his influence would contribute to my degree in graphic design. Now seven decades later, his influence continues as I compose geometric abstractions, occasionally with brushes and tools that I inherited.

While a graphic designer I produced illustrations of people, places and things, and my earlier paintings featured representational subjects. However, I have returned to the study of Kandinsky’s theory of the spiritual in art. Accordingly, I look inward for inspiration. My Quaker sensibilities value the subjective above the objective and direct my focus to non-objective abstract art.