Artist Info


Artist Statement Artist Bio One Person Shows Group Shows Awards & Competitions Artist in Residence Juror & Curator

Galleries & Agents Education
Educators Professional Organizations Work Positions Collections & Media


Artist Statement
I have often wondered how I managed to find the courage to claim the title “Artist”. I have decided I have little choice in the matter. For as long as I can remember I made images. I would carve roads and towns out of dirt, rocks and sticks under the pear tree. As a nine-year old I would struggle to draw a likeness of a hoarse and always yearn for more art materials. My mother made the vast majority of my sisters’ and my cloths. She and I would be like two rams jockeying for a creative position on the issues of what fabric to buy, patterns to choose and what findings to add to the finished garment. I love the process and exploration of making images and I do not confine myself to a specific media. I have investigation a broad spectrum of media and form. The consistent influence is fiber. It is the foundation that my work resides on.  I work both two-dimensionally and three-dimensionally; all influenced by that flexible line reoccurs in my work, the interconnection of elements, relevance of color and my curiosity of form. There is always a fiber project in the works that can take months to complete, but I have found painting and printmaking has provided me with a way to explore images from another perspective. Two-dimensional media provide relief to my impatience to realize an image with fiber materials. I began exploring handmade net forms in 1991 and continue to do so. I have been making and working with handmade papers since 1993, started painting in 1996 and was introduced to print making in 2002. I expand and contract from three-dimensional images to two-dimension, each stretching me in a different direction. Sometimes successfully, at times missing the mark, but always offering me a challenge. Art is my Bungee Cord.


Artist Bio

The flexible line has pursued me all through my artistic journey. I grew up watching my mother coquetting and wearing the cloths she made.  I learned to sew in my teens and continued when I had a family of my own. During the 1960’s textiles became more interesting and emerged into the forefront in the San Francisco Bay Area., Fiberworks and UC Berkeley produced many inspiring and technical adept artists that expanded my ideas of art and fiber. I explored embroidery, learned about weaving and dying and then focused on basketry for over ten years. In 1977 I was one of three founding members of the Bay area Basketry Guild that now has just under a hundred members. My early pursuit of techniques led me to working with a broad range of artists and textile guilds in the Bay Area.

I began my formal art education in 1975 at San Jose City College when my youngest of four children was two. I was interested in gaining a solid foundation of art principals and techniques. I then went on to received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting and a Masters of Fine Arts degree in spatial arts from San Jose State University in San Jose, California.  The majority of my life has been spent in the Bay Area in California. I grew up in Los Altos and raised a family in the urban environment of San Jose, California. I relocated to Buena Vista, Colorado in 1995 were I live and maintain a studio.

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One Person Shows
Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center, Salida CO, 2009

Gunnison Art Center, Gunnison, CO 2009

Laughing Ladies, Salida, CO 2008

Salida Regional Library, Salida, CO 2008

Arkansas Valley Art Center, CMC, Buena Vista CO 2006

Trembling Aspen Gallery, CO. 2004

Steam Plant, Salida Co. 1996,1998 & 2000

Joseph D. Grant Santa Clara County Park, Calif. – 1993

San Jose State University, San Jose Calif. – 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993

d.p. Fong Gallery, San Jose, Calif. – 1990 Apple Computer, Cupertino, Calif. – 1987

San Jose Museum of Art, Calif.- 1983

Olive Hyde Gallery, Fremont, Calif. – 1981

San Jose Institute Of Contemporary Art, San Jose, Calif. – 1981

San Jose Art League, San Jose Calif. 1979

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Group Shows
“Art Works Artists” Paquette Gallery, Salida, CO 2008

“Drawn from Nature”  Arkansas Valley Art Center, Buena Vista CO 2008

“Views of Pike’s Peak” Sangri de Christo Art Center, Pueblo, CO, 2006

”Forms of Dialog” Lakewood Cultural Center, Lakewood, CO 2006

“Simply Natural” ,Danville Art Center Danville CA 2004

“Installations” University of Southern Colorado Art Gallery 2002

“The Gifted Hand”  -Business of Art Center 2001 “12 x 12”

Chaffee County Council in the Arts – 2001

Installation – Colorado Springs Airport Colorado Springs CO – 2001

Durango Art Center, Durango, CO 2000

“Chaffee County Artists”, Fountain Valley School, Colorado Springs 1999

“Paradise Lost: Redefining Colorado Landscape”-University of Colorado, Boulder, CO-1998

Colorado Mountain College-Glenwood Springs-Faculty Show, CO -1996

Moore Art II, Villa Montavo, Saratoga CA-1996

“We Are Woman,” Genesis/Sanctuary for the Arts, San Jose CA- 1995

“Site of Crisis-Woman and Health Issues, Works” Gallery, San Jose CA 1994

“Ribbon Response: A Tribute to Women with Aids”. – Pavilion Mall, San Jose, CA -1993

San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art – 1992-93

Banaker Gallery – Walnut Creek, CA . 1991, 92.

Clay & Fiber Gallery – Taos N.M. -1990

Katie Gingrass Gallery – Santa Fe, N.M. – 1988-89  Milwaukee. WS – 1990

Oakland Museum – Collectors Gallery, Oakland, CA  – 1987

International Gallery. San Diego, CA – 1986

3-Com Corporation, Mt. View, CA – 1985

Northern California Hand Weavers Assoc.. Sacramento CA 1984

“Vessels”, California Crafts Museum, San Francisco, CA – 1984

“San Jose Hurray!” San Jose City Council Offices, San Jose, CA 1982

“Kimonos-Traditional and Contemporary” ”Falkirk Community Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA – 1982

“Our Creative Link”, Works Gallery, San Jose, CA 1981

“Basketry-Shapes and Embellishments” Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto CA 1978

“California Craftsman,” Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, Monterey, CA 1977

“ California Crafts X Biannual” Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA 1977

Peninsula Stitchery Guild Show, Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA 1977

Ventana Art Gallery, Los Altos, CA 1977 Sunny Vale Cuktural Center, Sunnyvale CA 1976

Peninsula Stitchery Guild Show, Tom Mead Assoc., Palo Alto, CA 1976

Peninsula Stitchery Guild Show, Potfolio Gallery, Palo Alto CA 1975

Peninsula Stitchery Guild Show, San Francisco Savings and Loans, Palo Alto, CA 1970

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Awards & Competitions
Arkansas Valley Art Center Second  Award – Painting 2009

Scholarship, Anderson Ranch 2008

Arkansas Valley Art Center First Award – Painting 2007

State of Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship 2001-Visual 3-D

“Fiber At the End Of The Century”, Corvalis, Oregon 1994

“Bay Area Arts & Crafts Juries Show”,  San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA 1981

San Jose Art League 3-D Competition-1st award, Tex.1981

Santa Clara County Fair- 1st Award, Textiles 1980

12th Annual Olive Hyde Textile Juries Show – 1977  and 1980

Santa Clara County Fair, 3rd. Textiles

California Crafts X Biannual – 1977 State of Calif. Exposition of Arts & Crafts-4th award-1977

California Craftsman – 1976 Burlingame Art Society Art Competion, 2nd, Collage 1973

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Artist in Residence
Artist Residency-Young Audiences Edith Teter Elementary School. Fairplay-2002 & 2007

The Pavilion, San Jose, CA – 1993

Sacred Heart Community Services – 1992-1994

Invision, Georgia Travis Center For Women in Transition – 1994

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Juror & Curator
Salida Riverside Park Fine Arts Festival 2009-2010

Lakewood Cultural Center ”Forms of Dialog” CO 2006

University of Southern Colorado Student Show 2002

San Jose State Art Alumni Exhibition & Auction – 1994

Santa Clara County High School Exhibition-Coordinator- 1989

Bay Area Basketry Guild – 1986-87

San Jose Museum of Art School – School Exhibitions 1985-87

Santa Clara County Fair, Jurior, Textiles1984

Tapestry in Talent Inc.-Coordinator State Wide Competition, “Beyond Words” – 1979

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Gallery Agents
cultureclash, Salida, CO, 1996-10

Jail House Artists, Buena Vista, CO 2010

Inside Art Connection, Alamosa CO, 2007-09

Gunnison Art Center, Gunnison CO 2000-09

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Education
San Jose State University. M.F.A. Spatial Arts 1992

San Jose State University, M.A.  Spatial Arts 1991

San Jose State University, B.F.A.  Painting 1978-81

San Jose City College  A.A.  Fine Arts 1978

Art Studies-California College of Arts & Crafts 1957

WORKSHOPS ATTENDED
Fransico Souto, Ingalio 2008
Ron Pokrasso Monotype 2006
Tony Ortega Monotype 2007
Jean Gumpper, Solar Etching  2007
Rachel Rosenthal & Suzanne Lacy- Performance-1991
Lillian Elliot – Basketry – 1990
Julia Parker, Pomo Indian – Basketry – 1987
Ann O’Hanlan – Experimental Mixed Media – 1977 & 1979
Dianne Springald, Embroidery Design 1976
Jack Dunstin  University of California, Santa Cruz Extension, Basketry 1976
Don Blake Dye Workshop 1977
Constance Howard – Embroidery Design – 1975 & 1977
Fiberworks, Paper-making 1974
Gerry Grace, Off  Loom Weaving 1974
Ruth Neptune, Spinning, Dyeing, Off-Loom Weaving 1973-74

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Educator
INSTRUCTORColorado Mountain College Drawing 2008

Colorado Mountain College- Art Appreciation & Drawing-1997-04

Childrens Drawing and Painting Class-1996-97

San Jose State University, School of Art and Design Teaching Associate – 2-D Concepts, Color, 1989-93 Teaching Assistant – 3-D Textiles 1991

University of California Santa Cruz, Extension – Instructor, Environmental Sculpture 1993

Community School of Art and Music – 1993-95

Arts in Action Program-Lonehill Elementary School, Art Instructor

San Jose State University Theater Arts Department Costume Shop -Teaching Assistant 1990

Cabrillo College, Aptos Ca. – Instructor – 3-D Textiles 1991

Sacred Heart Community Services, Collaborative Instructor with Writer, Jessica Lloyd-Rogers-1993-95

San Jose Museum of Art School – Painting, Drawing, Mixed Media, Sculpture & Textile – 1985-89

Core Program, Community Development Block Grant & Special Workshops Foothill Elementary – 1985-88 Linda Vista Elementary – 1985-87

Capri Elementary – 1986-87

Eisenhower Elementary – 1987 YMCA Latch Key Program – 1987

ESO-Alma Preschool – 1987-89

Santee Elementary – 1988-89

San Antonio – 1988-89

Tapestry in Talent Inc. Outreach Program – 1984 & 1991-95

WORK SHOPS PRESENTED

Paper Making
Colorado Mountain College “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” 2008
Taos Institute of Art–Contemporary Basketry Workshop-1996
University of California, Santa Cruz Extension, 1977 & 80
University of California Extension, Santa Cruz Art in The Landscape – 1993-94,
Basketry – 1977-78 Santa Cruz Weaving Guild – Artist Presentation – 1993
Black Sheep Weaving Guild – Artist Presentation – 1992
San Jose State University, School of Art and Design – Workshop, 3-D Textiles- 1990
Kirmeyer School of Basketry and Fiber – Basketry, Color & Netting- 1986-92
Santa Clara County Arts Council – Hands on the Arts – 1987
Mendocino Art Center – Basketry -1979
Fiberworks – Basketry – 1979
Arts & Crafts, Tule River Indian Reservation, Porterville, CA  1965-66

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Proffessional Organizations
Steam Plant Art Committee, 2008-10

Arkansas Valley Art Center, Board Member 2007-2008

Chaffee County Mentor 2005-2008

Chaffee County Council of the Arts 1995-2000 – Board Member, Vice-President

College Art Association – 1993-96

South Bay Area Woman’s Caucus for the Arts – 1993-96

San Jose State Art Alumni Association, Board Member: Treasurer, Program Committee, President – 1992-96 Northern California Hand Weavers Association – 1986-1996

Bay Area Basket Makers, Founding Member 1977-Present

San Jose Fine Art Commission-Art Acquisition Committee 1981-83

San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, Board Member 1981-83

Art Assoc. of the South Bay, Committee Member, 1980-83

Curriculum Planning Committee, Broadway Elementary School, San Jose, CA 1975-76

Peninsula Stitchery Guild, Board Member, Palo Alto, CA 1975-76

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Work Positions
Gallery Director,Trembling Aspen Gallery, 2004-2007

Gallery Assistant- Chaffee County Council of the Arts 1998

Fine Art Coordinator-Tapestry in Talent, San Jose, CA 1980-83

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Collections & Media
Kaiser  Hospitals

Progressive Corporation

Commerce Bank

Buena Vista Regional Library

Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center

Las Manos Bed & Breakfast Private Collections

Individual Collector

MEDIA

Colorado Central  Vol 86-Fiber is Good for Your Art, Clint Driscoll 2001

Basket Round Up . In Search of the Form. Jude’ Silva 1992

Fiberarts. Consuelo Underwood. 1990

Basket Round Up. Maxine Kirmeyer. 1990

San Jose Mercury-News. Fiber. Dorothy Burkart. 1990 San Jose Mercury-News. Best Bets. 1988

Fiberarts. March-April – 1984, Janet Koplos San Jose Mercury-News. November 1985,

Dorothy Burkart Pacific Sun. July 1982,

Cathy Howe Independent Journal. July 1982,

Jri Parr San Jose Mercury-News. May 1981,

Dorothy Burkart Oakland Tribune. May 1981,

Charles Shere Artweek. September 1981,

Janet Tyson San Jose Mercury-News. August 1979,

Dorothy Burkart Palo Alto Times. January 1979,

Gay Morris Palo Alto Times, 1978 “Jude’ Silva – Basketry,” Artist’s Market, Vol. 1 (Nov. 1979)

Basketry Today.  Donna Z. Mellack & Dee Menagh, 1979

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