My first memory in life is of drawing a picture.  But, like so many, I was discouraged from studying because representational art was supposed to be dead.  Instead, I got an M.A. in French and a Ph.D. in History, taught (French in the U.S. and English in France), wrote (Young Charles Sumner, UMass Press, 2001), was a caregiver — and yearned more and more desperately for time to draw.
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Thus I was thrilled when the opportunity arose finally to study with artist Nancy Fernald.  The Boston School tradition, in which she taught, marries classical drawing techniques with an impressionist sense of light and color.  A combination of worlds that spoke profoundly to my desire to join vitality with serenity and to celebrate the beauty that moves me in everyday things.  I paint "alla prima," without waiting for one layer to dry before moving on, and directly from life, my still lifes set up in the constant northern light.  And I am grateful for every day that I can do what I love.

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Galleries and Associations

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Academic Artists Association, Vernon, Connecticut

www.academicartistsassociation.org

 

Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville, Vermont

www.bryangallery.org

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The Greenfield Gallery, Greenfield, Massachusetts

www.facebook.com/TheGreenfieldGallery

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Selected Shows

Friends of the Agawam Public Library, Agawam, Mass., 10th Annual Juried Art Show

Hosmer Gallery, Forbes Library, Northampton, Mass., "Seeking Sanity," Oct. 2018, solo

The Restaurant at Burdick's, Walpole, N.H., "An Appetite for Life, August 2018, solo

Southwick Public Library, Southwick, Mass., "Fruits and Flowers," May-June 2018, solo

Maple and Main Gallery, Chester, Conn., 3rd Annual Juried Show, Jan-March 2018

Springfield City Library, Springfield, Mass., "Holiday Cheer," Nov.-Dec. 2017, solo

Friends of the Agawam Public Library, Agawam, Mass., 9th Annual Juried Show,         ——Second prize in oils for "Good Morning"

Lathrop Community, Easthampton, Mass.,  "Special Moments," June 2017, solo

Bryan Gallery, Jeffersonville, Vt., "Traveling Artists," May-June 2017, juried

Academic Artists Association, Vernon, Ct., Spring Show, May 2017, juried

Monson Arts Council, Monson, Mass., Spring Art Exhibition, April 2017, juried

Maple and Main Gallery, Chester, Conn., 2nd Annual Juried Show, Jan.-April 2017

Meekins Library, Williamsburg, Mass., "Northern Light," Jan. 2017, solo

Bryan Gallery, Jeffersonville, Vt., "From Farm to Table," May-June 2017, juried

Burnett Gallery, Jones Library, Amherst, Mass., "Still LIFE!" April 2016, solo

Hope and Feathers Gallery, Amherst, Mass., Small Works shows, 2015-2017, juried

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Review

Andersen, Richard, "What's Special About the Ordinary" in The Montague Reporter 21(1), 10 November 2022, p. B5. My thanks to Richard Andersen and to the Montague Reporter for their permission to allow a link to the page.

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Publication

Young Charles Sumner and the Legacy of the American Enlightenment, 1811-1851.  Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2001.

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Education

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2010-2014 Studied art with Nancy Fernald, Where Thou Art Farm Atelier

1999 Ph.D. History, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

1993 M.A. History, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

1989 M.A. French, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

1986 B.A. French, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

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