After two years of school in Paris studying art history and finishing up at BU I was at a loss for what to do next. Then a crazy friend from Paris came to visit for a few days and stayed a couple of years. She bought a sewing machine while she was here because she loved to sew... and it seemed so did I.
My first step into the art world was actually into a fabric store in Boston. I saw all of the bolts and bolts of fabric and my heart started pounding. I wanted to do something with all of those beautiful colors, textures and prints. So I took a sewing class at the School of Fashion Design in Boston and the next thing I knew I had a thriving bride's maids dress business. Then my third child was born and I had to give it up. Doing the fittings was too much for me. Then a few years later I started a children's ready-to-wear line. I ran that for 6 years or so until I got too big for my basement. I put a business plan together but got no bites. During that time I took a design class at RISD. Then.....
painting took over my soul in 1999 when I took a color theory class. I fell in love with paint, color and everything related. I loved doing the gray scales in any and all colors. I thought I was in heaven. Then the decorative painting classes started and that was it, there was nothing I wanted to do more. My children were almost grown, husband happily working... I was coasting.
I put together my first portfolio and shopped myself around to every interior decorator I knew and many I didn't. After that disappointment faded jobs started coming in from friends. Mostly for furniture. I loved painting furniture and there was plenty of it.
During this time I worked at a bakery decorating cookies and then cakes. That was fun. I did it for 10 years and then decided to put more energy into painting. Since then I have done 5 public spaces and a bunch of work in private homes.