A little
about my history. I was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.
I lived
there until I was 5 years old when we moved "to the country", a small town one
mile square called Rochelle Park, New Jersey.
When I
was young (my 20s) I lived in Heidelberg, Germany for a year and a half.
While
there we took a Grand Tour of Europe - France, Nancy,
England - London, Stonehenge, Cornwall, the French Rivera, Alsec Lorraine Spain
- Barcelona, Madrid, Granada and the caves at Altemeria - Switzerland, Austria
and all over Germany. We came home and had my daughter. When she was 16 months old,
we went by way of California and Hawaii to Japan for a year and a half. I was
profoundly influenced by the Japanese aesthetic of simplicity. You will see it
reflected in my art.
I
studied flower arranging (Ikebana) and tea ceremony (Cha- No- Yo) and traveled the length
and breadth of Japan.
When we
returned, we traveled by way of Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Bali,
Australia- Sidney, Brisbane and the Great Barrier Reef, New Zealand, the South
Pacific-Fiji Tonga, Tahiti, Bora Bora and Mexico for three months.
In those
days I wrote poetry, gardened, read voraciously, played bridge and chess, learned to
sew, needlepoint, crochet embroider and made Japanese Dolls. When the children were
in school I went back to school and got a BS in Accounting in 18 months. (I CLEPed
[College Level Equivalence Program] half
the degree, and graduated with honors.)
I went
to work for six months as an accountant when I was bitten by the Computer Bug. I
started out in documentation and training then became a systems engineer and traveled the
USA and even went to Venezuela. I was a systems analyst for a telecommunications
company.
Through
the years I sketched, painted and sculpted a bit when the spirit moved me.
Today I
am 59 years old, married, mother of 2 sons and one daughter. My eldest son has
given me two beautiful granddaughters. I was disabled by a stroke in 1996 which has
changed my life dramatically.
Prior to
the stroke, as a systems engineer I had traveled all over the USA. I loved
working. I found I spent one third of my time learning (company structure, new
software, and machines), one third of my time doing (designing, testing, and installing
new systems) and one third of my time showing what I had done (presentations to all levels
of management and training new users). It was a very satisfying mix.
After
the stroke I had to revise my lifestyle and the Art popped up again. I have a theory
that because the stroke affected my right side (left brain) most strongly, the right
brain came out of hiding and dominates at this point, which isn't bad. I feel I am just at
the beginning of the learning curve. There are so many graphics packages to master,
each doing something the others can't do. Then there is web skill, both technical and
design. I'd like to learn animation and adding music to the web site. I have a long way to
go but I find it exciting and challenging. Since I tire easily, I work in bits and spurts
with frequent naps.
Now I
travel by surfing the web, visiting art galleries all over the world from my wheelchair
and meeting artists from everywhere with every type of skill.
With my current husband, who I married in 1989, we went to Greece 7 times
to visit his family and tour Greece and the Aegean Islands. For our fifth anniversary, we
were married again in Greece and celebrated with his family. We also took a trip to
Egypt which was a dream and interest since childhood.
All of
this would be impossible if not for my husband. He was born in Greece and went through the
war there. The tales he tells curls my hair but for him it was fun and after that
nothing was difficult. He opened his first restaurant (Taverna) when he was 14 years
old at the end of the war. At 18 he got a job on the ships that cruised the Greek
islands for a year and then moved on to ships that circled the Mediterranean.
Eventually he began to work transatlantic liners. He crossed the Atlantic 65
times when he missed the boat. Really, truly, he missed the boat. He went to a
party and took a little nap. The next thing he knew it was 9:00 AM and his ship had
sailed without him. He knew a friend of a cousin who had a restaurant. Rather
then sit around for a month, he worked in his friend's restaurant, learning English and
then he decided to stay. So he went back to Greece to reenter legally and bought
half of his friend's business. He met a woman, naturally, and soon he was a husband and
father of two children. In all he owned 5 different businesses.
We met a
year and a day after his wife died, on the day my granddaughter was born. It was a
fairy tale that came true. We married 4 months after we met and it has been
wonderful. Since he was in the food business all his life, the kitchen became his
domain which was just fine with me. He has cared for me like a Princess.
When we
were married for five years, on our fifth trip to Greece we were married again in a Greek
Orthodox ceremony. All of John's relatives were there including his 94 year-old
father who walked me up to the altar.
