I spent my earliest years in Manhattan’s Lower East Side of New York and was the daughter of first-generation, hardworking immigrants. I was a latchkey kid and would have spent many hours alone had I not been fortunate to find compassionate and enlightened individuals at the University Settlement House where I went after school. It was there that I cultivated my resourcefulness and imagination for the arts.

Even at an early age I was always examining the surroundings with my untrained eye yet somehow astutely aware of the beauty of composition, and how changing light altered the colors of a skyline, a landscape and objects and the shadows they cast. Subconsciously it was a continuous and critical study in form and beauty.

Married at a young age, I had three children. I spent my days caring for my family, working part time as a graphic artist, and traveling internationally. Despite the challenges of juggling an active work and home life, I was determined to acquire a higher education in the arts, and over a period of eleven years, completed a Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Fine Arts. While I was pursuing my BA, I was employed by the Roslyn Board of Adult Education for approximately 8 years guiding art lecture tours to museums and galleries throughout New York City. I was excited to be surrounded by such amazing art in a multitude of mediums, styles, shapes, colors, and personalities in the arts, and was anxious to share my knowledge to anyone willing to learn. 

I was granted a Graduate Scholarship towards my MA and due to the increasing demands of my education, I discontinued lecturing, a truly rewarding experience while finding my niche in the arts. Following my Masters, I was an Assistant Professor of Art for five years at Trenton State College, New Jersey.

These early works are some of my indoor and outdoor observations, so intriguing that I was moved to paint them. Intrigued by Matisse’s stunning interiors—a view from my Paris hotel room window and the view from my home studio…the cement yard that I passed each morning on my way to work, an energized China Town on a rainy winter night. These pieces are merely glimpses of what captured my eye at the time.