I was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. My father was an officer in the Marine Corps and we traveled from coast to coast. My parents were both very creative, artistic people. Dad is a wonderful musician and my mother is an artist and costume designer who danced with Shirley Temple and Judy Garland (when Judy was Judy Gum and danced with her sisters as the "Gumm Sisters") . My grandmother, Nana, sewed all the girls' costumes. I remember Nana telling me she didn't like Mrs.Gumm, Judy's mother, because she was one of those stage mothers that really pushed her daughter ruthlessly to "be a star" and then pushed her other daughters aside when it appeared that Judy was going to be one. At least that was my grandmother's point of view!

My first stage experience was in elementary school when I played "Winnie the Pooh" in a play that my mother adapted from one of the classic A.H. Milne stories. In high school I taught modern dance and choreographed all the musicals. Everyone was sure I was going to make a career of dancing; however I chose to major in art and fashion design at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. It was also in Richmond that I met David, my first husband, had our son, Jason and opened up an art gallery.

When Jason was three, David and I divorced. I returned to the Washington D.C. area with Jason and worked for an art wholesaler as one of his primary artists for several years. Eventually

I met my present husband Roy. I opened another art gallery, and in 1980 we moved to Monterey. Roy was the Organization Effectiveness Officer at the Defense Language Institute. I worked as head of visual merchandising for a company for four years and then chose to change careers, when traveling was getting too hectic and there was talk that I was to be relocated to Dallas!

It was in 1985 that my mother-in-law was visiting and saw an ad announcing up-coming auditions for ON GOLDEN POND directed by Conrad Selvig. She talked me into going to try out. It happened to be August 25th. I remember because it was my birthday and she teased me about doing something daring. Low and behold I got the part of Chelsea and that was it; I was hooked!

I really have been blessed and feel extremely grateful to have had the sheer joy and good fortune of being able to play such rewarding roles and meet so many wonderful people in this theater community...many of whom are my dearest friends. The Peninsula abounds with such creative talent and selflessness. I will always be grateful to Conrad Selvig, Marcia Hovick, Nick Zanides, Diann Matheson, Peter DeBono and Carey Crockett for giving me the opportunity to learn and grow as an actor.

Conrad was particularly daring, allowing me to play Emily Dickinson in the one woman show, BELLE OF AMHERST, novice that I was, with only two other local plays under my belt! He is such a gentle, patient man and a real visionary. He is willing to risk doing plays that are more avant garde. The community should be grateful for that. I know I am! As for Marcia, where would any of us be without her? Marcia, has taught me a lot about dedication and what it takes to keep something you deeply believe in alive. Marcia Hovick, what a gift to this community! Why, if it weren't for Marcia no one would be able to understand half of what I said! To this day I cringe when I hear a well-known public speaker or movie star or politician say, "Wan chew" instead of "want you" etc. etc. Marcia, I will be grateful to my dying day for that and much, much more !

Diann Matheson directed me in one of my favorite plays... A SHAYNA MAIDEL. Diann was a delight to work with. I never once had to pick up a paintbrush or worry about finding props or costumes. She was so organized and taught me the importance of getting off book as fast as I can. Diann was a task master, made her actors work and her shows always reflected that!

Carey Crockett taught me so much just allowing me to watch him create! As a scenic painter he was my mentor and as a creative genius he holds my respect...and not only that, I will be forever beholden to him for allowing me to tackle the role of Blanche DuBois in STREETCAR!

And Nick Zanides, God bless him, stretched me until I thought I'd snap. He was the first to acknowledge that I could get "down and dirty" as an actress and gave me the role of Liz in OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD when it was first performed in the SRO. Nick taught me what it was to be a Company Actor. He also taught me how to be sensitive to the pulse of the audience.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am so very aware of the fact that I'm able to do something I love because of a small community of people who are committed to bringing to this Peninsula, the very best in community theater.

I am excited to say that in February I will be working opposite Mark Shilstone in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? directed by Jerry Gill . It will be performed in the SRO at Monterey Peninsula College. I'm really looking forward to working with the cast and biting into such a meaty role. We've all agreed that the real challenge for us will be to find the humanity in the piece, the moments that are redeeming.

Theater for me is more than a hobby. It is a teacher. It has given me a voice that my two other silent passions, painting/art and dancing/movement, have not been able to. The voice starts off not my own; it belongs to the playwright. If I do my job well, it becomes the voice of the character. I have found in the process, that the deeper I move into the voice of the character, I discover myself. Stories so often unfold on-stage that echo within, allowing me in some small way to embrace a broader landscape. Theater enriches, theater deepens, theater enlightens if I open myself to it fully.

This past year I have begun a Halprin Life/Arts training program at Tamalpa Institute. It was founded by Anna and Daria Halprin. Anna Halprin founded the San Francisco Dancers Workshop and has received international acclaim as an avant garde dancer and conceptual artist. She is a pioneer in using dance as a healing art. Daria, her daughter, developed an interest in the relationship between art expression and psychology, working in dance and theater labs with artists from all over the world. The work I am involved in now is an integrative approach to movement, the expressive arts and therapeutic models for personal, interpersonal and social transformation. Tamalpa's vision is based on the belief that the expressive arts when connected with life concerns and issues of the individual, the community and the environment, has a creative and integrating role to play in the lives of all people.

In addition to my work at Tamalpa, I am busier than ever with my Faux painting business. This past year I also created a 45 min. show for the "Life in the Arts" Program and will be doing another show in May. My focus is in encouraging individual expression and creativity, honoring the feelings of children and helping them to discover creative outlets for them through art, writing and movement.

On the home front, I am ( literally any moment ) about to become a grandmother for the second time! And I love it! My first granddaughter is two. Her name is McKynzie and lookout, step aside, she is bound for the footlights!

In closing I simply have a quote by Lord Byron. It is how I feel about this whole creative process. It is like breathing. We take life in, let it dance us, and then full, we offer it out to the world, enriched.

Lord Byron says it better:
Tis to create, and in creating live
A being more intense, that we endow with form
Our fancy, gaining as we give
The life we image.