I was born and raised in suburban Los Angeles. Fortunately my life was not all shopping malls and tract houses as I had grandparents who influenced me to believe in the power of imagination and the power of the individual to effect positive change in society. My grandfather on my mom's side was an amazingly imaginative artist, and many of my earliest memories are of making art with him. Both my mother and her mother were poets. My paternal grandmother was an activist and worked with the United Farm Workers, raising funds for this group by selling her ceramics. All the arts were valued in my family, and this early exposure and support is a big reason that I am an artist today.

I hold a B.A. in Art from U.C. Santa Cruz, which is where I started my path of making art about environmental issues. Artistic influences include Sue Coe, Bosch, Goya, Kathe Kollwitz, Remedios Varo, Frida Kahlo, John Heartfield, Irving Norman, Enrique Chagoya, John Lennon and many, many lesser-known creative souls. I'm also profoundly influenced by the natural world, and I immerse myself in nature as much as possible.

When I'm not making art and doing web design I serve on the board of Works San Jose, a community art and performance space in San Jose, CA, and help rehabilitate injured wildlife at a local wildlife care center. My husband and I live with our four cats in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

And for those who miss the cat bios from the old website, here they are: Goldie, Artemis, Pan, Calypso, and Ody