I grew up in Chicago, so I relish a certain grittiness and no-nonsense approach to life. Living in Japan for seven years, and especially studying calligraphy, had a profound influence on me, as did my 35-year career as a reporter and editor. The ethics I embraced to ensure the integrity of my journalism remain fundamental to my artwork. Being in California has sharpened my appreciation for nature’s raw beauty.

I have a liberal arts degree from the University of Illinois, and worked as a social worker and textbook editor, before getting into journalism. All the while, though, I painted and sketched. Making art has consistently been part of my life since childhood.

The transition from art as hobby to art as vocation began in 2003, when we left Tokyo for California. A conversation with a good friend made me realize I hungered to “paint every day.” So I found a studio, determined to invest one year’s rent in that experiment. I’m still there: Studio 46 in Berkeley’s historic Sawtooth Building.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to study with many talented artists, including printmaking with Enrique Chagoya, Ron Pokrasso, Orit Hofshi, Emily York, Lisa Bulawsky, Alexandra Blum and Buzz Spector; painting with Nathan Oliveira,  Jane Hammond,  Jamie Brunson;  and calligraphy with Yoshiko Okada in Tokyo and Kazuaki Tanahashi in Berkeley.