I am not a 'traditional' artist, and am always looking for new approaches to the materials I use to expand their possibilities. My work pushes the parameters of photography, painting, narrative text, and resin surface by blending them to create a new hybrid. Most recently I have also incorporated jigsaw puzzles into my work.I received my B.A. in Sociology from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN where I discovered ceramics in my senior year. I became hooked on working with clay and knew I would never pursue a career in sociology. I got my M.F.A. in ceramics from the Newcomb School of Art at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, and taught college level ceramics for a number of years at: San Diego State University, Chico State University, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and Laney College in Oakland, CA.Although I will always love creating ceramic wall sculpture, my work gradually evolved into the photo-based mixed media painting that I do today. My work is currently represented by Anne Loucks Gallery, Chicago and Arthur Grant Art Advisory in Brooklyn. I have had over twenty-five solo exhibitions including the Sasse Museum of Art in Pomona, CA, the Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA, The Morris Graves Museum, Eureka, CA, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art in Santa Cruz, CA, and the Peninsula Museum of Art, Burlingame, CA, to mention just a few. My work is included in over 175 private, corporate, and museum collections such as: The Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona, CA, The Crocker Museum, Sacramento, CA, The Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA, Santa Cruz Museum of Art, Santa Cruz, CA, and the Newcomb Art Museum, New Orleans.Also, my work has recently been featured in What Women Create Magazine, Carpazine Magazine, The Woven Tale Press, ArtReveal Magazine, Artist Talk Magazine, Edge of Humanity Magazine, 5"x7", etc., and on the cover of numerous books, and has been reviewed over thirty times. I was born and raised in Chicago and now living in the San Francisco Bay Area with my husband, poet and novelist Jerry Ratch.