I grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and spent the summers at our family house on the Truckee River near Squaw Valley. I spent my time fishing, riding, skiing, hiking and racing boats (my dad actually raced unlimited hydroplanes in the forties and won the Gold Cup!) Evenings were spent over jigsaw puzzles since we had no TV there. I spent hours doing those puzzles and became very good at it! It occurs to me now that I am STILL looking for the right piece!

I've always had a love of color, old dishes and little porcelain animals and although I had no formal art education, the loss of my 18-year-old son, Kevin, in 1994 spurred me on to a new artistic endeavor. When he died, I found myself in need of some way to remain present for my surviving children and my husband, yet lose myself for brief periods so as to lessen the terrible pain and grief. I had a box of Kevin's school projects - little handprints in clay and animals he had made in play school (I'm not exactly sure what animals they are!) and didn't want to just stuff them in a closet. Having also come across some china that belonged to my husbands great-grandmother and had been repaired with homemade staples and yellowing glue an idea began to emerge. Thus began the "Grotto."

I began to study Antonio Gaudi. I took classes at Santa Barbara City College and the Mosaic Institute in Oakland, CA. I covered everything that didn't move in broken china. I haunted every antique mall and flea market in the area and took every broken dish my friends and family could collect. I am the Ultimate Recycler of broken stuff.

I hope you enjoy what has become my passion and delight. My life is great fun now - the memories of my darling son keep me laughing, my mosaics keeping me present. Life is SWEET!