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Hello Friends, I am finally writing a post nearly a month after surgery on my left thumb. A bone was removed from the thumb joint, tendons were taken from my…

I’ve posted now and then about my Osteoarthritis woes, and it is heartwarming how much response I’ve received; well-wishes and recommendations are all very much appreciated. In many cases, the…

When I first moved to Olympia, WA in 1988, it was right on the verge of becoming a vortex for the music scene. Being an introvert, I was only on…

For most attendees, this weekend will be just another fun Fall Arts Walk in downtown Olympia. For me, this is a significant and meaningful moment that I’ve been looking forward…

Metamorphosis Mural Dedication Saturday, October 7 at noon! Watch a 3-minute video interview by Steve Bloom of The Olympian HERE. October 3, 2023: I’ve been away to teach at conferences…

Cascadia Mosaic Collective is a group of mosaic artists in Oregon and Washington who met through conferences and events over many years, united by our shared interest in mosaic, as…

Last summer, I installed my sculpture “Fertility” in Bainbridge as part of their “Something New IV” outdoor sculpture exhibition. The piece will remain on display until June 2022, and is…

As my commission schedule has become consistently jam-packed, you may have noticed I’m offering fewer in-person mosaic workshops. For everyone who has been waiting and wondering when the next class…

On Friday, August 6th, there will be a celebration of the Something New IV exhibition in downtown Bainbridge. My sculpture has a space between the egg and the plinth that…

The most recent issue of 425 Magazine, a lifestyle magazine for the Eastern area of Seattle, features an article about the location of my most recent mosaic installation, “Rivulations.” You…

Back in December, I announced that I had been selected to receive a grant from the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Sixty regional artists were chosen to create new work…

This mosaic inlay is located on the back patio of a private home in western Washington State, overlooking the Puget Sound. To me, the artwork is part of the landscape:…

This week I had the pleasure of installing a fireplace surround in an 8th floor condo overlooking Tacoma. I had fabricated the mosaic in my studio ahead of time and…

It started with my decision to create recorded instructional videos, in part because I’m finding it very difficult to make time for teaching, whether on zoom or in-person, and partly…

My daughter began expressing her creativity before she could speak, and it has been so fun watch her grow over the past 18 years. She makes a lot of different…

Friends, I have a draft of a New Year post that I never published because, as I was working on it the Georgia elections were taking place, quickly followed by…

Back in 2019, I had the opportunity to participate in a Home & Garden Expo in Portland. My main goal was to connect with designers, builders and home owners, but…

Update: The mosaic is finished and featured in a newer post. I’m so honored and humbled to be one of 20 artists selected to create new work for an exhibition…

On October 17, 2020, we celebrated the completed mural in Westport, WA! To recap: This project launched in December 2019 during the Santa by the Sea event, with visitors to…

Print-on-demand sites offer a range of items that you can purchase featuring my original artwork, including mosaic and other designs. Some of these sites even print images onto canvas, wood…

UPDATE: This mosaic now belongs to Tamika Palmer, Breonna’s mom. I hope it brings her some small solace. As the mother of a daughter, I cannot imagine the pain of…

In the face of so much negative news and incredible uncertainty in the world, I’ve been coping by making colorful, fun mosaic projects for the garden. With each of these,…

In December of 2019, a new mural for the coastal community of Westport, Washington was launched. During Santa by the Sea, Stitches Quilt and Craft shop hosted the first participatory…

*I could not be more proud to be the recipient of a CID award from Coverings 2021 in Orlando for this project!! I was in Mexico when the awards were…

If you read my first two blog posts on this subject, you will hopefully be thinking about ways to practice “looking,” and identifying and collecting the things you are most…

See my last post showing how the mosaic designs were created with kids in an after-school program at Auburn’s Teen Center. Now all three of the bench tops have been…

Last week, I finished the 3′ x 5′ center section of the Westport mural, then took it out into the sun to snap a photo. About half of the 12″…

During summer of 2019, Arbutus Folk School and I facilitated a participatory mosaic project at the new Plum Street Village, a small complex of tiny homes in Olympia. Participants included…

Just completed: a 12″ x 14″ mosaic portrait of Alice Paul. She was imprisoned and force-fed as a suffragist activist, and she co-authored the Equal Rights Amendment, and re-wrote it…

The 2019 Society of American Mosaic conference was held in Nashville this year at the end of April, and I taught two day-long versions of my Precision Cutting Stained Glass…

I am often asked how I come up with my stylized designs. Honestly, there’s nothing original about this work! I have a passion for folk art and traditional crafts, and…

The other night, I received a message from a friend in India passing on a screen shot from someone in Olympia with a section of the Best of Olympia list…

In November 2018, I created and installed this fireplace surround in a home with a subtle color palette. The client had a lot of off-cuts from their pale grey ceramic…

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] The dedication for the Diversity Mural in Orlando took place on Sept. 21, 2018. There is a second version of the Diversity Mural in progress for Orlando, FL. For…

My newest mosaic was a very difficult project for me in many ways. When my sister-in-law passed away suddenly, earlier this year, I was attending a mosaic conference with the…

Af year-long project for the City of Bellingham, located along Maplewood Ave. in the Birchwood neighborhood.

On May 21, I had the pleasure of attending the opening ceremonies for Mud Bay’s annual “MudStock” event, which is a day that all 45 of their branches throughout the…

Diversity Mural dedication at Choice High School on June 14, 2018 The Diversity Mural at Choice High School in Shelton, WA was dedicated in June 2018, though it wasn’t quite…

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] In 2012, I approached Choice High School hoping to work with students to create a large mural on a blank exterior wall on the school, located in downtown Shelton,…

I’m very excited that one of my papercut designs has been fabricated as a metal banner for the South Capital Neighborhood in Olympia, WA. The banner is now mounted right…

After the shooting at Pulse Nightclub, I had this idea to create a mural made of hearts that form a rainbow – with the hearts being made by anyone wanting…

I installed this mosaic panel on May 31, 2017 at the South Kitsap Skatepark in Port Orchard. I love this project because it is in a public space used by people from all walks of life, yet it is deeply personal.

Choice Mosaic Program , a weekly drop-in class at Choice High School in Shelton, WA.  This began as an outreach program for homeless teens and my position was funded by a grant from the McKinney-Vento Act.  The program has been very successful, so the school has found funding to continue for yet another year, and we are no longer under pressure to serve only homeless youth.