I am often asked when I decided to become an artist/painter.

I am sitting with my mother holding one of her cool surrendered hands, my sister holding the other.  We her daughters hold vigil, patiently waiting in this last hour of her life.  Softly in the background the music of Simon and Garfunkel is playing, “like a bridge over troubled waters, I will lay me down.”  This is an apt description of my mother’s life, a perfectly written score.

With labored breath she rests comfortable. Then to my surprise she raises her left arm, like a ray of sunlight, reaching upward she takes her last breath with the words of Simon and Garfunkel singing, “sail on silver girl, sail on by….” Silver is my mother’s maiden name. With her last breath I inhale deeply as if taking my very FIRST breath. With unimpeded tears streaming from my eyes, I say to myself: “no more excuses—it’s time to paint”.

Fast forward eight years…I am now writing poetry that accompanies each painting and beyond.

I have come to paint and write poetry while living with my husband in the ponderosa foothills of the majestic Rocky Mountains