I grew up in New York State and was trained as a research biologist. I started making art on a regular basis after moving to Illinois (1993). My early work was for 'therapeutic', rather than commercial purposes. (traced images and geometric designs with color pencils). Later I started working on a larger scale, incorporating paint, pastels and other materials and inventing my own, biomorphic, semi-abstract figures. My technique was to start with a water soluble layer (ink, gouache, watercolor), then a layer of chalk pastel mixed with watercolor paint, then oil pastels, then...more