My birthplace was a geographical accident: I should have been born in Maine. After living all over the world and moving way too many times, I have finally found home when we arrived in 2004. In less than two years, Maine was mine, and I am Maine’s. It’s every day beauty in all seasons inspire my work, as do my family and our animals. When I grew up, I was not one of those “natural born” artists—I envied them and wanted to be one of them. I just had to work to get where I wanted to be! Life, university and a professional life interfered, but finally when I hit my 40s, I began to make time for art. Since then, I have taught myself and taken online courses to improve. I figure if I don’t learn something from each piece, I’m not working hard enough. Playing with color, cloth, dye, paint, line, shape, form, light and shadow is simply pure joy. As our youngest heads off to college, I’m hoping for more time (and fewer miles to sports meets) for art.