I grew up on the outskirts of a small town in the Piedmont of North Carolina.  I’ve lived in a lot of places since then-Chapel Hill NC, Chattanooga TN, Baltimore MD, Aix en Provence(France), Austin TX, Asheville NC . But a year and a half ago I moved back to my hometown of Shelby NC.

When I was little my idea of paradise was having a big stack of paper and pencils, paints, scissors, glue, fabric scraps and miles of rickrack trim. I remember my mom ordering a package of odd buttons and ribbons from some catalog- receiving that package in the mailbox was the most mysterious wonder that I could imagine.

I spent many afternoons after school roaming the aisles of fabric shops with my mother and sister, the shops that were plentiful back when textile mills dotted the landscape of our town- the Dora, Esther, Lily, and Dover Mills. I was always allowed to take a little fabric home with me.

In art school at The Maryland Institute of Art I got to take classes in all the things I loved to do- Painting, drawing, printmaking, weaving, calligraphy, sculpture.  I couldn’t believe my good fortune.

 I’m having a great time now, using the skills I learned over the years to make all kinds of things.