MY ARTIST STATEMENT

Life is a journey - without the help of a GPS

I have spent much of my life trying to figure things out and find my way. Retirement has been no exception.

When I retired in late 2016, a door opened to many new directions. I played with clay in pottery studios, finished writing a book I had begun many years earlier, started a small publishing company—and discovered a love for painting.

​

Before 2020, I had never even picked up a paintbrush. I had always thought of myself as a writer. My first impulse was to put my feelings and observations into words. I never imagined I would someday try to do the same with paint.

I began by following artists on YouTube and after the Pandemic, I continued learning from artists in my local community. I’ve been finding my way by experimenting with various media —clay, gouache, watercolors, acrylics, oils, and digital art. I seem to have landed on acrylics and oils. I beginning to see a style of my own emerge.

​

I am still learning, experimenting, and finding my way. It never gets boring. That is what makes painting so exciting to me. Perhaps the greatest surprise is how painting has changed the way I look at the world. Ironically, now that I am in my late seventies and experiencing changes in my vision, I am finally learning to see. I notice light, shadow, color, shape, and the subtle changes in the world around me in ways I never did before.

Painting has opened a whole new world to me. And I am still finding my way.

​

Guiding me and inspiring me along the way are my husband, our three children and four granddaughters. I receive professional guidance from these organizations: the Chelmsford Art Society, and the Arts League of Lowell. the Society of Children's Book Writers and illustrators (SCBWI),  Women in Publishing (WIP), Chelmsford’s Climate Action Team, and the Learning in Retirement Association (LIRA).  And a special shout-out and thanks to the members of my writers group and my many friends I've met along the way. 

ABOUT MY WRITING

I've always enjoyed writing. From my early teens, I turned to writing to express myself and to clarify my thinking. I kept diaries, and wrote short stories and poetry. In college, writing research papers was a challenge I loved to take on. At UMass Amherst in the mid-1970’s, I worked as a secretary to Chinua Achebe, celebrated author from Nigeria. Our office was across the hall from visiting professor, Shirley Graham DuBois. This was when I first learned of the achievements of her late husband, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois. The seed was planted for my first book. 
 

It wasn’t until the early 1990’s, that I started writing that book. I was working in the Reference Department of my hometown Library, when I was laid off due to budget cuts. I approached Joanne (Weisman) Deitch, the owner of a small publishing company in Lowell, Discovery Enterprises. Joanne published my first book, W.E.B. DuBois: Crusader for Peace, as well as my second, Pride and Promise: the Harlem Renaissance.  The Library eventually called me back to work full time, and I placed my writing career on hold. 

​

A routine reference call at the Library around 1998, planted the seed for "Derailed," my latest work. The caller asked about a circus train that derailed in West Chelmsford in the early 1900’s. After doing the research to answer her question, I couldn't get the story out of my head. Over the years I found more details from books and old newspaper accounts. I even interviewed an elderly neighbor who shared his first-hand account of seeing performers from the Wild West Show at the School Street train station the morning the train derailed, May 24, 1911. After I retired, I brought all my research together and wrote "Derailed."  Joanne Deitch guided me through the editing, printing and publishing process. In 2025, I founded my own imprint,  School Street Publishing Company.​