I live in an awesome spot overlooking the Oregon coastline, surrounded by trees, visited by deer, turkey, and sometimes the neighbor's horses. I am a multi-tasker so I always have a bunch of different projects I am working on, as well as 3-5 books I am in the middle of reading.

I have to attribute my kelp art to a very special friend who continually baited me to think of something to do with the dry kelp we would see on our walks at the beach. The rewards have been much greater than simply rising to the challenge however; I find working with kelp fills me with a similar joy as that I experience from the ocean. Since each piece of kelp has its own patterns and its own way of shrinking during the drying process, there is only so much 'control' I can have over it. it is truly a co-creative process with nature.

My background has included leatherwork, beadwork, jewelry design, house design and building, gardening and landscaping, mothering of 4 children and 4 grandkids. I have traveled the world and lived in 4 countries, including 9 years in Australia in a self-sufficient home i built on a private tropical island on the Great Barrier Reef.

Some of my work is featured in the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Deadman's Chest", a Cat o' Ninetails that was used to whip Orlando Bloom on the Flying Dutchman, the kelp for some of the ropes on the Flying Dutchman, and parts of the creepy crawlies that adorn the bodies of the Dutchman crew are also kelp. You can see the drawing of the whip I was sent to work from in my Photo Gallery.