The experts say that the artist’s biography should be a Curriculum Vitae in paragraph form. As curriculum vitae is a Latin term meaning the course of one’s life, I interpret this to mean that I am free to simply tell my own story as I see fit.
1955
I was born in New York City in 1955, and have spent most of my adult life there. I grew up in Inwood, a hilly community with beautiful parks at the northern tip of Manhattan. We were frequent visitors to nearby Fort Tryon Park, and it was at The Cloisters museum there that I discovered what was to become a lifelong passion for art and making. Even though I was very young at the time, only four or five, I have an extremely vivid memory of seeing the Unicorn Tapestries and feeling as though everything had changed. Interestingly, it was not the imagery that captivated me, but the more abstract qualities of the pieces – the weaving itself and most especially the colors.
1963
My formal art training began at the age of eight. I studied charcoal sketching and oil painting at the Art Life Craft Studio on Third Avenue in Manhattan, and discovered that I had absolutely no passion or talent for either. My desire to make things, however, continued unabated and I became an enthusiastic crafter. Possibly it was this early and definitive failure to learn to draw freehand that eventually led me to embrace the grid when I finally began to make art decades later.
1977
I graduated from Harvard in 1977 with a degree in Art History. While I dabbled in photography as an undergraduate, I have had no formal studio art or design training since that failed experiment on Third Avenue in 1963. My academic focus was on twentieth century painting, and my discovery of the seemingly contradictory schools of Minimalism and Pattern & Decoration during that time has been highly influential on my work going forward.
1984
After graduating from college, I received my medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine in 1984. I am Board Certified in Diagnostic Radiology with a specialty in Ultrasound, and retain an active license to practice medicine in the State of New York to this day although I haven’t done so in many years.
When I asked my college professor to write me a recommendation for medical school, he was happy to comply but sincerely felt I was making the wrong choice. He had been sure that I would attend graduate school in art history, architecture or design. He then said something to me that was prophetic. He said that while he understood my reason for leaving the art world to go into medicine, he was certain that I wouldn’t be able to stay away. When I asked him why, he said, “When you look at a tree, you don’t see just a tree – you see a Corot”. I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant at the time, but it rang true and I never forgot it.
1996
He was right. By 1996, I had left medicine and landed in design. I created flower girl dresses for Miss Pym, a company I started with Lisa Hall. Our dresses were frequently featured in Martha Stewart Weddings and the other major bridal magazines, and I was interviewed for Town & Country Elegant Weddings, a book written by Stacy Okun in 2001.
2003
By 2003, Lisa and I were both ready to move on, and I started Cartesian Graphics as a home- based business designing and producing handmade greeting cards. Making these cards involved gluing crystals and fabric swatches to printed grids. The business grew steadily over the next decade with hundreds of customers all over the world and a Best New Product Award win at the National Stationery Show. I created custom designs for such New York City institutions as The American Museum of Natural History, The Hayden Planetarium, and The New York Botanical Garden, and was featured in The New York Times. By this time, the business was no longer home-based, and had relocated to a studio in an old printing plant in Long Island City, a formerly industrial area of New York City in the borough of Queens.
2015
In 2015, after making many thousands of greeting cards individually by hand, I felt the need for a change. Although my move from design to art has been a long time in the making, much remains the same. I still glue crystals to printed grids. And I still work in the same Long Island City studio. For the past decade, I have lived in the building as well, in a loft I share with my husband and two cats. Our daughter lived with us also, until she ran off to join the circus.