What is your medium now? (oils, acrylic, pastel, watercolor...) What medium have you always wanted to use, but haven't yet? What mediums have you used in the past? Why do you prefer your current medium?

I use oils now.(Gamblin and Winsor Newton) When I was an illustrator I worked in gouache, which I still carry with me sometimes when we're traveling. Over the years I've tried pastel and watercolor but they just don't appeal to me. When I was a young Mother I worked a lot in colored pencil, and still enjoy the quiet honesty of pencil. One area I really enjoyed in the past was printmaking. I especially liked etching/aquatint, hand coloring the plates before printing. I've also tried sculpture (loved it), pottery (I was absolutely terrible at it! Clay flew everywhere!), jewelry making (utter failure, too much work! gave me profound respect for jewelry makers!)

I'm curious about egg tempera, and I'd like to someday take a workshop in pastel or watercolor - see if I like it any better.

What time of day are you most creative? Early morning? Afternoon? Early evening? Late at night? Which season do you feel most creative? Winter, Fall, Spring, Summer? Why?

It depends on the weather. Spring and Summer are my favorite seasons. I love Spring. The first warm days and the garden "waking up" with bulbs peeping out of the earth, buds about to burst on the trees, I am like a little kid and only want to be outdoors. The hard decision is I have to ask myself if it's a gardening day or a painting day? Toss up which wins, but usually the garden wins first, when it is tidy the next day is my treat to paint all day. On beautiful sunny warm summer days, I love to get up early, have a cup of coffee, and set up for a full luxurious day of painting. I dislike Fall. In the winter, I like to do snowfall and nocturnes from the comfort and warmth of my studio windows.

What does your studio look like?

My studio is the top floor loft of my home and it is my sanctuary. It is organized with separate areas for all my different needs. I have a storage room to organize supplies, frames, panels and paintings, etc. and an industrial sink for clean up. There is a framing table, and many bookcases filled with all my favorite art books and magazines. There is a wall mirror to check paintings in reverse, and a ledge to prop up paintings that are drying or still "works in progress" . I just had installed a large bulletin board ( 4 x 6) where I keep art notices, meetings, competition information etc. My desk is set up here with computer, printer, scanner, fax and all my digital recording equipment, as well as a phone and a small TV that plays DVDs and is hooked up to cable. There are chairs to sit on and read a book in, a daybed to take naps on, an ijoy chair for massages, and always a vase of fresh flowers as well as a couple houseplants. Scattered around my studio are various little things that bring me joy......my children's first art, friends sculptures, mementoes from traveling, some photographs. The walls up to my studio are hung with my art, but this is more my system for keeping track of frame sizes, or art that is being prepared for a show. There is track lighting and a ceiling fan and two large windows looking West. .........and most of the time one or both of our two cats sleeping on the window seat (they steal my paint brushes when feeling mischievous!)

Do you listen to music when you are painting? Have a TV on? If yes, what are your favorites? Do you use an ipod when painting outdoors? Or do you prefer silence?

All of the above, it depends on my mood. Sometimes when world events are dramatic, I keep the TV on to listen to the news. Sometimes I'll turn the TV to Turner Classic Movies and just let it run all day (no commercials). More often I turn my computer on to Itunes and just let it shuffle through my library of music - a very eclectic collection ranging from Hawaiian Slacke Guitar, African drum music (Telek) gospel (Sweet Honey in the Rock), 40's (Nat King Cole) folk, classical (Yo-Yo-Ma), jazz (Etta James), and the blues....Mississippi John Hurt and my current favorite, Kelly Joe Phelps.

Then of course somedays I prefer the meditative sound of silence.

I always take my ipod with me when painting outdoors, but interesting, rarely use it.

When did you first want to become an artist? (And when did you realize you were one?) Did you draw or paint as a child? What were your subjects?

I don't know if I ever "decided" to become an artist, it's just something I always did. When I was little I used to lay on the floor and draw elaborate pictures on the underside of my Mother's tables. This probably began when I'd make tents under the dining room table hiding out during hurricanes. When I was 6, I won a poster contest for the new library. We were a Navy family, moving often, drawing and painting kept me company. I used to draw houses, design houses, draw and design gardens, copy flowers, do little portraits of friends, copy paintings I liked. Later, my first paintings (in acrylic) were copies of Renaissance painters. I loved Raphael and Leonardo Da Vinci's Madonna and child paintings.

Are there any other artists in your family? (including all the arts)

Yes! My Mother had 5 brothers and all of their children became artists. One cousin was the head of Hallmark artists for years and now does op ed news page illustrations ( John Overmyer), another cousin is an illustrator out in LA, another a wildlife artist in Idaho, and another a designer in New Orleans. My brother is a cartoonist (and an Episcopal Priest!). My GrandMother was the first woman architect of Ohio and an illustrator. She designed the Ohio State football stadium, the TKE house and various other buildings as well as did early cover illustrations for House Beautiful. My son is an Arts Editor out in Montana, and his wife is a Dance professor at UMT. My daughter is also a dancer, married to a musician, and my husband is a musician. Neither one of my parents were artistic, but they were always encouraging and supportive.

Which artists (past or present) do you turn to for inspiration? Why?

Ahhhhhh, so many I like! Mian Situ, Jeremy Lipking, Richard Schmid, Scott Christianson, Daniel Sprick (present) William Merritt Chase, Sargent, Whistler, Edgar Payne, Frederick Remington, Maynard Dixon, Birge Harrison, Sydney Lawrence, Degas, Boudin and more!

If you could travel anywhere to paint, where would you go and what would you like to paint?

I'd go to a secluded beach house in Hawaii, stocked with fine art materials, a housekeeper and a chef. I would paint everything, from the smallest blossoms to the largest banyan tree, to the grandest sunrise........barefoot.

And then I'd go back to Ireland, to a rural farmhouse in a small village and paint the miles and miles of green.

If you were not a painter, what activity would you be pursuing?

Oh...........couple things: theatre & costume design. Or animation, movies, special effects. Or elder care counseling- Hospice work..............or maybe just own a small village flower shop.

What is your favorite color, and why?

Jade Green........viridian. Don't know why, but I am drawn to this color and paintings and rooms with this color: Whistler's Peacock Room at The Freer Gallery in Washington DC. is one example.

Here are three colors I dislike: red, orange and acidic yellow. Probably why I dislike Fall.