My head is always running ahead of my hands, thinking three steps forward, moving toward new possibilities before finishing the first. Using mixed media satisfies my need to explore as many of those possibilities at once as my hands can handle.

Paul Klee said that drawing is only a matter of “taking a line for a walk,” and with needlepoint I am drawing with thread, working within the confines of the materials to bring images from my head to life.

My pieces start with an idea, a feeling, or just a simple picture, and I like the way they expand and change, showing me what they want to be. I like exploring the intersection of craft and art, always working with the perfectionist’s eye gained from my years of studying clothing design. In addition to needlepoint, I also work with acrylics (on canvas, wood, and scraps of paper), watercolor pencil, and painting on glass.

I like to work on a small scale—tiny pieces are an intimate experience between the work and the viewer. When you are up close, that piece is entirely yours for that moment in time; that space exists only for you and it. Everything around you disappears, and you can hear the artwork whispering secret messages to only you.