It was 1983. I was usually scouting Amish Country for old quilts and selling them to collectors in Australia, Japan and England. One weekend while poking around at the flea market in Berkshire, MA I came across a man who would again forever change my life.

In 1980 I was invited to study Art at Parsons School of Design in New York City. My first Class was Graphic Design taught by the most handsome man I had ever met, Seaver Leslie. Seaver had graduated from RISD along side friend Dale Chihuly with whom he collaborated on a wonderful exhibition inspired by James Joyce, Ulysses Cylinders.

I was the middle one of 3 girls. My mother was very traditionally dutch. She believed that we should all learn to play piano, cook and sew. At age 6 she sent me off every Saturday morning to her best friend, Nancy Grant. Nancy was an enormously talented baker, chef and seamstress who taught me how to cut patterns, use a sewing machine and make my own clothes.

It was 1973 and I was 19. My then boyfriend David introduced me to his cousin Jeremy whose father was a well known Australian painter, at an opening featuring his work. Memorized by the depiction of familiar countryside I bought my very first oil painting; a 10"x8" landscape of nearby hills and trees, painted by Peter Glass.