About Me.

I grew up in a small town where an elementary school teacher told the class that we will constantly be in search of who we are. I doubt that she thought much of such a statement at the time, but it lodged in my mind permanently. My artwork is a constant search for self from my early crayon-colored rocks to today’s photographic work. My art is my way of attempting to understand myself and the world around me. 

 

I was a printmaker in Undergrad. But for my BA major at the College of Mount St. Joseph, I had to select between taking a weaving class or a photography class. I decided on photography. I did not think I was organized enough to be a weaver. Photography came easily for me for I embraced the magic of the darkroom. As time passed, I craved more photography and attended graduate school at Indiana State University for an MFA. 

 

I was fortunate to be hired by Mississippi State University in 1986 soon after graduating with my MFA. I have been there for the last 35+ years. I guided the photography program from totally analog to integrating digital courses. During the Pandemic I moved a traditionally alternative course to an online course. I have had my work exhibited in Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson MS; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; Czech China Contemporary Museum (CCCM), Songzhuang, China; and in May2023 in 19th Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers., Worldwide Photography Gala Awards and Fotonostrum, Barcelona, Spain. I have attending Anderson Ranch Workshops and Maine Photographic Workshops. Recently, I received a Mississippi Arts Commission FY2024 Individual Fellowship Grant for further visual research.

 

As with curriculum, my artwork has changed and has grown over time. I strive to keep learning and improving who I am. ‘I experiment, fail and go from there.’ Said Denis Roussel. These are words that I totally relate too. I have explored many different techniques over my career, unlike many artists who use one technique and spend years refining their vision. My work does not have a single style, yet it all has a basic concept  of memory, loss and self that bridges the different bodies of the visual research and unites them into one voice. 

 

My journey will not end until I have moved to the next existence but for now – I will create.