Where I started...

Bermuda, where I was born and grew up, was the beginning of my journey in nature. I never got tired of looking and being immersed in such beauty--spectacular blues and turquoises of clear water, the feel of pink sand between my toes, swimming, riding the waves, racing on the beach, the lush vegetation, the sounds of the birds, the wind, the surf, the scent of flowers and salt.

My mother and grandmother were fashion designers and had careers in New York City, but it took me a while to realize I had my earliest art lessons from them--the figure, why a dress would look just right on one woman but not another, how they would honor the individuality of each person. My mother illustrated her designs in memorable pen and ink drawings. One Christmas she gave me my own small dip pen, a pad of good paper, and a bottle of ink. I was quite young and amazed at being allowed to have permanent ink! Despite the color around me, I persisted in drawing in pen and ink for a long time and showed my work with the Bermuda Society of Arts at City Hall in Hamilton.

My father was always showing us how important it was to stop and look--at the water, at the gardens. He would take us to the Botanical Gardens to see the Easter Lilies in bloom. A friend's grandfather grew them by the acre for export; we would ride through the fields on her donkey, Lucy, and smell their sweet fragrance.