Recently, a writer for an arts magazine asked what a painting of my life would look like. Taking a moment to contemplate and visualize my life as a painting, I replied that it might be a self-portrait without a face; a landscape punctuated with bodies of water, reflecting or absorbing light; and terraced hillsides asking to be climbed and planted. And, I am floating on the water looking at the shore planning the next season's color-palette for our garden.

Today, watercolor or dye on silk and pastels, are the vehicles that provide me with the means to explore the breathtaking moments when light hits water and I observe what might have been seen through the eye of a dragonfly.

The Serti (French for "enclose") technique of painting on silk allows me to capture the shifting qualities of light found within the intimacy of a water garden. I find myself involved with the flow and blending of color, using strong lines to define dramatic areas within these waterscapes. While this medium is liberating, it is also deliberate and demanding requiring precision while applying a resist called Gutta that is used as a barrier to contain the fabric dye.

My graphic design education gave me the discipline and tools necessary for my real-life occupation, designing art glass. Many subjects hand drawn in pencil during my 30 years working in the glass art world still appear in my paintings today. My silk paintings come very close to having the brilliance of stained glass, more so now as I experiment with the use of black resist.

I have said many times I feel blessed to be living life as an artist. Getting to use a talent that has been nurtured, first by parents, then by fellow artists, gives me pure joy to create and bring attention to the more subtle views of nature. I have witnessed and believe in the healing power of art and one goal is to be more deeply involved in manifesting this through my work.

My attempt to capture the breathtaking moments found in the natural land and water scapes around me have become my conversation with the world.