Welcome

Hi, welcome to my website. I’m so grateful you have stopped by.

The painting on this page illustrates a chapter called Body Cast, which is from my illustrated memoir The Whore Next Door. It begins with my coming of age in the 1960s and it covers all sorts of wild adventures that I had through the early 1980s. There are 106 short chapters - each one is accompanied by a full-color watercolor painting. If you decide to read this book, I hope you start at the beginning - it makes a lot more sense in chronological order. The chapters are not meant to be stand-alone stories.

WHY I WROTE AND ILLUSTRATED A MEMOIR - During the many months in 2005 when I was recovering from cancer, I sat in my favorite chair in our lovely sunroom and admired the snowy landscape while my mind wandered wherever it wished to go.

One afternoon, I decided to write down one of the events from my life that had amused me. I had never written a long paper or story, but I discovered I enjoyed writing so much, that after three months I had typed 450 pages and realized it was a memoir.

When I was little, I felt sorry for grownups because their books didn’t have pictures. Once I knew I had written a book - I knew I would do a painting for each chapter. I knew I would finish my huge project, but it took me ten years - pecking away when I felt like it - to finally complete The Whore Next Door.

I am grateful beyond description to be cancer free and still on this crazy planet - I often wonder why I am so fortunate when so many people are not. Life is such a strange mystery to me.