About The Artist

I have worn various hats in my life – artist, mother, partner, teacher of art, yoga and meditation, graphic designer, Reflexologist, Reiki master, retreat facilitator, cook, traveler, activist. My passion for art and travel has allowed me to learn about and enjoy various cultures around the world. All of these life experiences have inspired me and informed the richness of my artistic process.

From a young age I enjoyed looking at and creating art. In the mid-seventies, influenced by the Fiber Arts movement, I pursued my love of line and texture, and explored various weaving techniques using non-traditional materials to create three-dimensional work. This transformation and celebration of found materials continues in my work today.

In 1985 I began a MFA program at Mass College of Art where I worked with wood, metal, papermaking, installation work and weaving wire forms. There I deepened my fascination with Japanese aesthetic and calligraphic forms. My experience with fiber techniques and linear materials grew into creating ladder-like forms. I enjoyed enhancing the natural surfaces of aging wood and the colorful patinas on metals seasoned by the elements.

After settling in Northampton in 1997, an area rich in natural beauty and abundant raw materials, I continued to expand upon the use of found, gestural, linear wood as a 3D drawing material. The joys of manipulating and transforming these materials emerged into another series exploring wholeness through the use of circles, including the Japanese brushstroke Enso.

In 2002, a residency at The Vermont Studio Center proved to be an extremely inspiring and productive time for me. Working alongside artists from Japan and Thailand enhanced my awareness and reinforced my love of the varied uses of natural materials, simplicity of form and space, while trying to bring a contemplative presence to the work.

This thread of an organic theme through all of my work draws on my fascination with the energy and aliveness in nature. The rich reminders throughout the New England countryside of transformation, metamorphosis and the aging process have inspired me to celebrate these themes in my sculpture and now my layered paintings on paper. Excavating down through the painted colors, adding and subtracting along the way, reminds me of my sculptural process. Finishing with membranes of white and gold unifies and creates a sense of infinite space and for me a timelessness, a calm within the surrounding storm.

I also use my hands for healing through Reiki and Reflexology. For the last 25 years my work with people with cancer, AIDS and other illnesses has infused my art with an awareness and desire for meaning and serenity. I have a growing appreciation of the fragility and vulnerability of life, of the importance of simplicity and the wisdom of stillness, which I aim to incorporate in my work. As I age and my art ages with me I feel a growing need to simplify, to edit, to celebrate playfulness, to visually create a meaningful quiet state of mind.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

  • MFA in 3D, Fibers/ Massachusetts College of Art/ Boston, MA / 1987 / Honors
  • BS in Art Education / State Univ College / Buffalo, NY /1974 / Honors

SOLO EXHIBITS

  • Specimens of Hope, A.P.E. Gallery, Northampton, MA
  • Thompson Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art: Boston, MA
  • Limited Editions Gallery, Newton Highlands, MA
  • Associated Foundation of Greater Boston: Boston, MA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITS

  • A.P.E. Gallery, Gathering Light, Northampton, MA
  • 2017 Western Mass Biennial. Hosmer Gallery, Northampton, MA
  • Art in the Orchard, Easthampton, MA
  • Tabla Rasa Gallery, Pioneer Women, New York, NY
  • Gallery at 19 Forbes, Twelve Artists/One Cause, Northampton, MA
  • Sharon Arts Center: Peterborough, NH
  • Plum Gallery: Williamstown, MA
  • The Fiber Art Gallery: Twigs and Sprigs: A Celebration of Line, Amherst, MA
  • Shaw Cramer Gallery: Vineyard Haven, MA
  • Susan Brunner Gallery: Covington / New Orleans, LA
  • Adam Street Gallery: Delmar, NY
  • Women’s Interart Gallery: Boston Seven, New York, NY
  • Federal Reserve Bank of Boston: Mass. College of Art 3-D Faculty
  • Society of Arts and Crafts: Boston Seven. Boston, MA
  • Mills Gallery: The Sensuous Line. Boston, MA
  • Art Complex Museum: Boston Seven. Duxbury, MA
  • Danforth Museum: Container Show. Framingham, MA
  • Mills Gallery: Mary Ann Kelly / Wendy Shah. Boston, MA
  • Boston Symphony Hall: Boston Seven. Boston, MA
  • Boston City Hall Main Gallery: Beginnings. Boston, MA
  • Community Arts Gallery: Form & Fiber. Univ. of Mass., Boston, MA
  • Prudential Center Gallery: BVAU Sculpture Show. Boston, MA
  • Guilford Handicrafts: Fibers: Flat & Formed, Guilford, CT
  • Lowell Museum: Textiles II. Lowell, MA
  • The Newton Arts Center: The Full Circle. Newton, MA
  • Federal Reserve Bank of Boston: Fibers: from Function to Formalization

RESIDENCIES/GRANT AWARDS

  • Northampton Arts Council Grant, 2007
  • Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, VSC Artist Grant 2002
  • Massachusetts Cultural Council Professional Development Grant 2002
  • Snow Farm, Williamsburg, MA (Norm Ed – welding) 2000
  • Omega, Rhinebeck, NY (Dan Mack – rustic furniture) 1998
  • Art New England, Bennington, VT (Tim Hawkesworth – painting) 2013
  • Omega, Rhinebeck, NY (Jane Davies – painting) 2014
  • Jane Davies Studio Rupert, VT (Jane Davies – painting) 2015
  • Montgomery County Arts Council, Bethesda, MD, Artist Annual Grant Awards 1992-1996