ARTIST STATEMENT

The native people of the Canadian and Alaskan far north who historically used seal and walrus gut to make clothing and vessels, inspire my work with hog gut (better known as sausage casing). You can buy natural sausage casing packed in salt from a meat market. When wet, it is white, opaque, and resembles fettuccine. When dry, the casing becomes transformed into a delicate, translucent, parchment-like material.

Because of my embroidery background, I often use needle lace stitches (sometimes in combination with twigs), threading the wet casing on a needle, then stitching over a mold to form an open grid-like structure. In other work, I layer sheets of wet casing in a process similar to papier mache', sandwiching threads, wire, and found materials between layers. More recently I dye the casing before stitching, but I still prefer the warm caramel color of the dried natural material.

PUBLICATIONS
Authored,

Needle Lace: Techniques and Inspiration, Hand Books Press (The Guild),1999

Needle Lace and Needleweaving, Arthur Schwartz and Co.,1991 (V N Reinhold,1974)
Articles,

500 Baskets, Lark Books, spring 2006
Fiberarts Design Book Seven, spring 2004
Surface Design, SDA newsletter, summer '06, Seductive Surfaces: fishskin and gut, fall 2003
American Craft, Jun/ July '05, Oct/ Nov '03, Aug/ Sept '03, Jun/ July '02, Apr/ May '02, Mar/ Apr '02
Baskets: Tradition and Beyond, Kevin Wallace, Jan Peters, Ray Leier. Guild Books, 2000
Shuttle Spindle and Dyepot, spring 2003, fall 2000, summer 2000
Fiberarts, summer 2003, Nov/ Dec 2002 (profile), summer 2002, March/ April 2000

EXHIBITIONS  
Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from the Sara and David Lieberman Collection, Tempe AZ, 2005
Traveling, 2007 to 2009, Houston TX, Palo Alto CA, Doylestown PA, Bellevue WA, Santa Fe NM
Contemporary Basketry: Redefining Sculpture, Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle WA, 2009
Basketworks: The Cotsen Contemporary American Basket Collection, Racine Art Museum, WI, 2009
Baskets, an Evolution, Museo Gallery, Whidbey Island WA, 2009
XTreme Baskets, invitational, Jane Sauer Gallery, Santa Fe NM 2008
Bamboo by Design, Fountainhead Gallery, Seattle WA, 2008
Baskets: No Boundaries, invitational, Jane Sauer Gallery,  Santa Fe NM, 2007
Connected: Annual Basketry Techniques Invitational, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale AZ, 2007
Baskets as Architecture, invitational, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge MA, 2007
Baskets: Beyond Structure, invitational, Jane Sauer Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe NM, 2006 
Natural Origins: Contemporary Basketry 2006, invitational, Fountainhead Gallery, Seattle, WA 2006
Basketry: Northwest Connections, curator, Tacoma Community College Gallery, Tacoma WA 2006
Basket (R)evolution, invitational, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton MA, 2006 (Mobilia Gallery)
All Things Considered III, juror, National Basketry Organization, Lake Tahoe CA, 2005
Celebrating Nature, invitational, Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum, cur.  Kevin Wallace, 2004
Looking Forward, Glancing Back: Northwest Designer Craftsmen at 50, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham WA, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue WA, Contemporary Crafts Gallery,
Portland OR, 2004-2006
Prism Exhibition, invitational (guest artist), Mall Galleries, London, England, 2004
Cross Currents, international basketry exhibit, first place award, Convergence '02, Vancouver BC,
SOFA Chicago and New York, del Mano Gallery 2000 (speaker) to 2002, Mobilia Gallery
Public and private collections: (selected) Racine Art Museum, Racine WI,
North Carolina State University, Eric and Barbara Dobkin, Pacific Lutheran University,
WA State representative Patricia Lantz, Sara and David Lieberman

TEACHING  
International and national fiber arts workshops and lectures (recent):
National Basketry Org., 2005 Biennial National Convention, Lake Tahoe CA (instructor and speaker)
City Literary Institute, London; Oxford Basketmakers, Oxford; Windsor College, Windsor; UK, 2004
National Basketry Org., first biennial conference, Abiquiu NM, 2002

Regional seminars:
Edmonton, Alberta, Victoria and Vancouver B.C.,Canada; Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Virginia,
W. Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

MEMBERSHIPS
Northwest Designer Craftsmen, served as president, vice president, and nominating chair.
American Craft Council, Surface Design Association, Friends of Fiber Art International, Handweavers Guild of America, National Basketry Org.

EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts, Interior Design, University of Washington, Seattle WA, USA, 1961