Prior to 1980, my studies of knotwork patterns and zoomorphic designs were primarily focused on the work of the Bronze Age Eastern Europeans. By 1982, the body of my work had become distinctly Celtic.

The use of plants and animals in my designs defines my work. I begin with the zoomorphs, arranged in a pleasing mathematical relationship to one another, and then design the knotwork to complement the figures. In many cases, the knotwork is designed to describe movement associated with the animal.

The pieces are first drawn on the paper in India ink and allowed to dry sufficiently overnight. Then the first layer of color is applied in flat colors of permanent ink and when they are dry, subsequent colors are washed over the top to define the spaces clearly. If gold leaf is to be added, it is applied to the painting a day after the inks are dried. Colored pencil and/or wax transfer is added last and blended into the existing color scheme as an additional highlight.

My education in the arts has come by way of my own curiosity and experience. In 1972, I was fortunate to meet Aggeak Quakjuk, a prominent Inuit artist, and studied the Inuit perspective in art with him for two years. In 1986, I won a grant to study a Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland. The focus of my work there was "Pre-Christian Elements in Eastern European Folk Art."

Although I am not a native to New England, I lived in Vermont and in the Greater Boston area for nine years and my work there attracted the attention of the New England Arts Council. I was one of twenty-six artists invited to show at the Helen Day Museum show of New England artists.