I've always had an interest in art and music, and when I was a child, I thought it might be my life's work. At one point, I pursued  the theater and later music, but I experienced performance  anxiety, and so I nurtured my other interest, sociology, and  became  a social worker. I counseled battered women and worked with  the homeless/mentally ill. I was dedicated to my work, but wondered about my creative talents and where they might lead me.

In 1998, I had the chance to travel to Italy (the Etruscan town  of Cortona) with my husband, and everything changed. I left my social work job and for those six months, taught myself  to paint. I visited Florence and Rome to study  the paintings of the Renaissance period, and painted constantly (we had no tv!). Despite that what I painted was mostly  pretty awful, I found that I loved the work, and eventually, I did get  better.

These days, I paint and exhibit my work in San Diego where I live with my husband Marty Sereno and our cat, Bella. When I'm not painting, I like to play music and sing  with friends April & Tim (ACT), and I'm also learning to play the violin (another childhood undertaking) and am taking  lessons with  Beth Mosko. She's a great teacher and a  talented performer. I'm also making giant papier-mache puppets and helped start the San Diego Puppet Insurgency, along with Antonia Davis. We perform locally at Peace and Justice events.