About
The year was 1953 when my parents and their first child (only two years old) were blessed with my arrival. Not that my sibling saw it that way. Later, two other children came along. I found three siblings to be rather challenging.
I loved coloring and drawing horses, and mommy was great about buying me coloring books and Crayola crayons. Later on I got Walter Foster books on how to draw horses (and other animals as well). I also watched Jon Gnagy’s “Learn to Draw” TV shows and got his Learn to Draw kit.
I grew up (more or less), and at the age of 20 I left home for San Francisco. I met a guy, not that I wanted a relationship at the time. I wanted to be by myself and live in peace and quiet.
Nevertheless, the guy was very persistent and we started living together. I liked making sketches of him. He failed to see the resemblance (probably because there wasn’t any.) I figured that once he had lived with me for a couple of weeks and saw what I was really like (a bit over-sensitive and somewhat hot-headed), he would leave. He didn’t.
In 2017, after having lived together 43 years, we finally got married. And here we are still in lovely San Francisco, comfortably and happily married (most of the time). My hubby’s name is Al Stephens and he does computer programming and design. He could retire, but he enjoys his work.
I consider myself an “everybody-taught” artist because I’ve learned from everybody. I’ve learned by drawing and simply enjoying the process as most children do. That was before criticisms, comparisons, and judgments somehow appeared and altered the whole experience.
I have been influenced by:
children’s picture books
TV cartoons
newpaper comics
other people’s sketches, drawings, and paintings
paperback book covers
web sites
YouTube
the world around me
I took some art classes in high school, and I took a great drawing class at SF City College when I was older (maybe my late 20s or early 30s). Plus, I took a couple of painting classes at City College. And a few other classes here and there.
I’ve purchased a number of art instruction books over the years, as well as checking out a lot from the library. I love the library!
I’ve sketched on and off over the years. I would give up and try other activities, like ukulele, recorder, macramé, beading, and so many other music instruments and crafts. But eventually I would start sketching again.
And give up again. Maybe for several years.
And start again.
Since the middle of 2019, I’ve been drawing and sketching regularly again. But not always every day. It finally dawned on me that my deepest interest must be drawing because it’s the one thing that I keep coming back to. December 28, 2022, I started drawing every day even if it’s just a sketch of my thumb or the salt shaker. (I've missed several days here and there when sick. But that's okay.)
