I was born in Braddock, Pennsylvania, youngest of 5. I grew up on a small farm in Westmoreland County with freedom to explore the woodlands and play in the barn.
I have lived and made art in southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virgina, the Catskill mountains of New York State, the South Carolina coast and northern New Mexico. My work has been inspired by the plant and animal life of these places; as well as by my children, my work as a teacher, and my partnership with painter Bill Manly (1932-2004).
In the 1970s I studied at the Art Student’s League and with Alex Martin at SUNY New Paltz. In the following decades I studied at The Woodstock School of Art with Franklin Alexander; with Albert Handell in Woodstock; and Guillermo Delgado at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. I have also been writing poetry since childhood.