Early paintings....

Rajasthan, India 1993

In 1982, as a sophomore at Principia College, I and 15 other classmates traveled to India for a month on a photojournalism course. We stayed in many places... Kachwah Guest House in New Delhi, Mayur Tourist House in Agra, visited the majestic Taj Mahal. Especially memorable was a visit to the Taj in the moonlight while the rest of our families were awakening to Thanksgiving morning back in the States. We also saw the Red Fort, the Pearl Mosque and various tomb sites. After Agra was Jaipur where I met some lovely children playing in the streets. In Jaipur we stayed in the Bissau Palace Hotel and visited the Palace of the Winds, the Amber Fort, rode on elephant back to the gates of the fortress and visited a few palaces. We also took in a Bollywood movie with some new acquaintances we met while sightseeing. We camped at the Pushkar Fair for 3 days and witnessed thousands of pilgrims take their sacred dip in the Pushkar Lake. From there we went to Jodhpur and then on to Jaisalmer. This is where we left for a camel safari in the Thar Desert for 3 days. The painting above is from a photo that I took while in the desert. What I will never forget, is how these children were in the middle of miles and miles of sand, happy and quite content. Also lovely was hot tea in the desert. I never thought something like this would be so refreshing. After our safari and a memorable trip to Udaipur a few of us flew down to Bombay (now Mumbai) for a week of relaxation before we returned home. Without a doubt, India was a life changing experience for me. A place full of vivid color, exotic aromas, and mysterious people. I look forward to revisiting my photos for some future watercolors....

Seagulls Gloucester, MA, 1988

While growing up my parents often took us to the ocean. One of the places we would visit was Gloucester. I loved walking around on the rocky shore. This painting was sold at the Oxfam America show in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1988. A woman from Baltimore purchased it as a gift to her mother in Clearwater, Florida. I received a lovely letter from her mother when she received it...

Iris                  NH, 1988

During the summer of 1988 my father gave me an opportunity to devote my entire summer to work on my watercolors. I had been out of college for 3 years and still trying to figure out what my 'real job' should be. I had a Bachelor of Art in Sociology and worked in a large antique business. I showed my father a painting that I did of an Indian woman (I should get a picture of that posted..) and he asked me what it would take to paint all the time. "Ah, well Dad, I need to pay my bills..." Dad offered to match my pay for 10 weeks if I quit my job and painted for the summer. How could I say no? During that summer I joined the Keene Art Association, did a show in Cambridge, Ma., Portland, Me., and Peterborough, NH.