I grew up in a home of four children, and
our parents always encouraged creativity,
whether it was providing some of us with
music lessons or bearing with me as I puttered
and made creative messes (even from an early
age!) Mom was a professional seamstress and
always had a huge variety of beautifully-colored
fabrics and threads around her sewing area.
Dad was not an artist by trade, but he had
an excellent eye for sketching, and he would
draw characters for us from the Sunday comics.
I was always the student in the class who
entered the poster contests, did the classroom
bulletin boards, etc. I had a flair for drawing-
I even had a set of Venus Paradise colored
pencils- but no formal art instruction.
My father died suddenly when I was fifteen.
I had considered a career in either education
or art. When I was a senior in high school,
my mother (feeling very practical, no doubt)
strongly encouraged me toward elementary
education, because it was a more "employable" field.
I graduated from Purdue University, but because
I was graduating with a double major (elementary
education and English), there was no room
in my schedule for any electives. I used
to be fascinated by the art majors' projects
at college, but there was just no time for
those courses for myself.
Years later, after teaching third grade for
seven years, I took a leave of absence from
my teaching job. My sister Jeannie belonged
to the Michigan City, IN Art League and enlisted
me to join a watercolor class with her. It
was a "light bulb evening", with
a generous instructor who was folksy, encouraging,
and who made everything look do-able. I was
so excited to finally have guidance and instruction
in watercolor that I rushed home that evening
to show my husband the wonderful things I
had learned about watercolor! Knowing which
papers, brushes, and painting techniques
to use made all the difference in the world.
Life has a way of happening with endearing
irony. I sold my first painting in 1980,
on the same day that I learned I was pregnant
with my daughter Mary (now 24 and a student
at Indiana University School of Optometry.
)
Several years later, son Joe (now 20 and
a student at Purdue University) was born.
Juggling the needs of two little ones, I
lacked much free time to do my own art. It
was at this time that I returned to our local
weekly art classes (with Dad holding down
the fort at home) and was re-introduced to
colored pencil by a dynamic teacher named
Teresa Suarez. She brought samples of her
colored pencil art, and I was blown away!
I appreciated the flexibility of colored
pencil and the way I could manage a few minutes
here or there- and not need to wait until
the wash was at the right stage of wetness.
I loved the fact that I could layer colors
and that the color went exactly where I aimed
it!
Child #3, Eddie (now 15 and a freshman in
high school) also arrived. Often I would
rock him, with Baby in one arm and a Bet
Borgeson book in the other. By the time he
was a year old, I was asked to teach a beginning
drawing class for our local art league. Eventually
that course evolved into a colored pencil
class, much to my delight.
By 1996 I was teaching colored pencil workshops
in other states, managing them during the
summers along with my husband Ed's vacations
as working/ family vacations. Whether we
are spotting gators in Hilton Head, South
Carolina or moose in Grand Marais, Minnesota,
it is an interesting and educational experience
for all of us. The people I meet- many who
are late-bloomers like me- are warm, funny,
gracious, and talented. It is exciting for
me to get to do what I enjoy so much- and
to do it as a career. The early years as
an elementary school teacher have proven
helpful in designing my art instruction step
by step, encouraging and being supportive
along the way. One of the nicest compliments
I received was from a retired principal,
who said, "I hear you giving those little
verbal 'love pats' to your students!"
At this point, I have taught almost 150 workshops
all over the United States- what a wonderful
experience!
My latest project is a book entitled Drawing
and Painting with Colored Pencil. (Although
I have contributed to a number of colored
pencil-related books, this is the first one
which I have authored.) Covering techniques
for both traditional (wax-based and oil-based)
colored pencils and watersoluble colored
pencils, I have aimed to write a comprehensive,
practical guide to my favorite medium. Watson-Guptill
Publications will be publishing and releasing
it, with a target time of late spring, 2005.
