I was born on the west side of Saint Paul, Minnesota on July 30th, l940, about the start of world war two. My father was a meat packer for Cudahy Meat Packing Company. My mother was a housewife and also an excellent artist. I have a brother, four years younger than myself, and a sister one year older.

My artistic endeavors started when I was about five years old. My grandmother would keep my mind occupied by giving me pieces of butcher paper and a pencil, and have me lie down on the floor and draw. I would listen to music and start creating my own images on paper. My subject matter was mostly people. While visiting my grandparents on the farm I did studies of insects and farm animals. I also loved the hills, the apple orchard and the old farm machinery. These objects were of interest to me and later inspired my drawings.

My sister knew from the get go that I was going to be an artist and brought my first real art books home from the library. I spent hours in junior high school studying books on art and creating my own drawings. In high school my teacher wrote on my report card that I showed "spurts of artistic development and should be encouraged to continue to create".

My parents raised me to be a Catholic. I always found the latin mass inspiring and aesthetically pleasing. I loved the pomp and circumstance, the smell of incense, the Latin singing of the Requiem Mass and the beauty of the alter. I loved the history of the saints and I studied many of the statues in the church. The Catholic Church has provided the world with wonderful works of art from Michelangelo, Leonardo, and others . My own works of art are still very religious in nature, having been inspired by the church.

I decided later to become an art teacher with painting and drawing as a second interest. I attended St Cloud State College (then primarily a school for the preparation of teachers) and I earned a bachelor of science degree in art education. I left Saint Paul, Minnesota and I found my first teaching position in Wisconsin at the junior high school level.

After teaching in Wisconsin, I studied at the University of Minnesota. I met a professor there who felt I needed to travel and broaden my perspective and experience. He suggested that I travel to California. I followed his advice. I lived in San Francisco for twenty years and then moved to southern California where I have lived for the last twenty years.

I have been inspired by the art work of Pablo Picasso, Chagall, and I enjoy the way Ben Shahn uses line in his illustrations.

I must give special thanks to professors at St Cloud State College. Thanks to Foster Marlow for teaching me the wonderful use of color in painting. Mary Barrett taught me the skills of printmaking. Charles Crane helped me gain understanding through art history.

Professor Thomas of the University of Minnesota helped me mature as an artist and gave me comfort when I was very sick.

Norman Schwab at Los Angeles City College was inspirational to my success through his patience and informative knowledge of the arts and techniques of printmaking.