An Unconventional Career

My love for designing costumes began in summer stock right after graduating from High School. Following graduation from West Virginia University (Creative Arts Center) with a BFA in Theater Design, I moved to New York and studied painting at the Art Students League with Morris Kantor, as well as costume design with Jane Greenwood at Lester Polakov's Studio and Forum for Stage Design. A year later, I was admitted into the United Scenic Artists of America, Local# 829. For the next 18 years, I designed and assisted other designers on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, TV commercials and regional theater productions (including being designated the Resident Costume Designer for the Berkshire Playhouse in Stockbridge, Massachusetts). Along the way, I developed a reputation for the construction of theatrical headpieces at the Metropolitan and City Opera companies, the American Ballet Theater Company, and several Broadway productions. I also constructed specialized props for Neiman Marcus, Great Adventure Amusement Park (NJ), and the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Then life evolved: I got married, had a son, and earned two advanced degrees in Literacy and Post-Secondary Education. Eventually I found myself working as a Medical Education Learning Specialist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Beth Israel Department of Medicine (NY) and in private practice. In September 2011, I moved to Florida to develop a program at the University of Central Florida's new medical school. After a 25 year hiatus, I started painting again. Soon I was asked to donate paintings to the Medical School Library. Also, at this time, The Orlando Museum of Art sponsored "First Thursdays" every month where I would enter paintings. I was selected five times. In 2019, I moved back to Manhattan and started painting full time.