Art has been part of my constitution and my identity since I could speak, and I have always had a curiosity about artistic materials and the history embedded in art. After graduating from University of Vermont with a BFA and a BA in art history in 1991, I moved to Italy to study Painting Conservation at the Istituto Per l’Arte e il Restauro in Florence, Italy. I completed painting conservation internships at the MoMA, the Guggenheim, and the National Museum of the American Indian. In 1997, and earned my MS in Architectural Conservation, with a focus on paint conservation from Columbia University. My degree as an art conservator introduced me to traditional painting methods and materials and fueled my fascination with the search for what lies beneath the surface, and two decades of teaching art has also hugely impacted my approach to art-making. My work centers on the dreamlike state between the conscious and my subconscious. Thematically, I gravitate toward childhood memories, landscapes, and archetypes in nature.