The Occasional Tinkerer

This is an illustration of our 72 Triumph Tiger, rendered in pencil and looking far more reliable on paper than it ever was in person. My husband and I used to tool around on this old bike, often finding ourselves stuck on the side of the road on the dark, cursing the British engineers at Lucas, who supplied the wiring.

Graphite on cold pressed paper, 48" x 36".

A pandemic project, transforming Mikaela and Kasper’s favorite outfits into a Quarantine Quilt for each of them.

It’s been an honor to have painted invitations and registries for family and friends’ special days.

We got into sewing stuffies out of the kids outgrown clothing. In total, I think we sewed about ten new friends, mostly sea creatures, from Mikaela and Kasper’s old clothes.

As a self-taught gardener with more passion than time or skill, I love to grow things that I love to eat.

In Vermont, we dug a 200 linear foot mounded bed garden. In Pennsylvania I built a much smaller cedar raised bed garden.

I seek to eat fresh vs preserve, but sometimes the sheer volume forces me into preservation.

Arlo was our half Pyrenees, half Lab. He just crossed over to the other side, so I sketched our boy’s smile to hang in our living room. He was the best dog.

Nothing serious to see here. I love to take out a pencil and sketch whoever or whatever happens to be nearby. Most often with kids. Most often of kids. Sometimes dogs. Sometimes fruit.

Mount Gretna is a special place where we lived for several years. I was inspired to capture it in watercolor - our neighbor’s cottage, a postcard. Do yourself a favor and visit this magical little village.

Over the years, I’ve painted plenty of wall art — murals, canvases, and woodburned art — for my kids’ and nephews’ rooms. No money charged for these copyright infringements. :)

Fraktur is a traditional form of illuminated Pennsylvania Dutch folk art and black-letter type. I got into the historical form of artwork, and started designing my own modern versions.

Eventually I started to be commissioned to create fraktur pieces for weddings, births, and other special occasions. These examples show a variety of certificates, in addition to a collection of notecards and the reproduction of an original 1800's Pennsylvania German Fraktur. This reproduction was one of a series painted to provide English translations for display in the historical society. 

Watercolor and pen & ink on hand-dyed cold-pressed paper, sizes vary.

Rod and I rehabbed a little cottage in Mount Gretna. It was a complete gut and redesign, and during the two year project I loved the rhododendrons that surrounded the cottage so much that I incorporated them into our cut glass bathroom sink mosaic. It turned out this was a real challenge to keep clean so I don’t recommend for a counter top! Also included is the sign I painted for our little cottage, a nod to how long it take to complete the project. :)

Occasionally I knock out a logo. Mostly I enjoy playing with hand-written fonts.

Side requests here and there have given me the chance to paint olive groves for farm stands, small paintings for small hobby businesses, and other fun requests.

In 2019 we started a tradition of making a caricature Christmas card each year. I haven’t hunted down all the old ones yet but when I do, I’ll add them here.