Exhibitions/Shows:
In the late Sixties, a new craft clay, Sculpey, came onto the market.
I got busy, sculpting little shoes, a gumball machine, a plate of
spaghetti & meatballs for the dollhouse my grandfather made for me.
A local store in Ravinia that sold Pop Art soft sculptures bought my pins.
After visiting The Art Institute to see the miniature Thorne Rooms,
I remember saying to myself, “This will be my life.”
For the next 40+ years, I made personalized, custom dioramas for
an ever-growing list of clients: a college band (Indiana U ‘84), Chicago
theaters and restaurants, politicians, sports teams, private commissions.
After my son was born, I shifted to dimensional illustration for
children’s books, claymation, and toy design. The 90s were all about
art for kids, and my love for childhood nostalgia became the focus.
I made sculptural relief pieces recreating old family Polaroids: Snow Day,
Twister, hippie bell-bottoms, the Highland Park Fourth of July Parade.
A show called “Life Is Sweet” was based on the past; wax lips candy,
Pop Tarts, the Volkswagen van behind Northwood Junior High that sold
Rain-Blo gum and Zotz.
A born treasure hunter, attics and basements are where I play.
I dig for old photographs and mementos, buried in dusty boxes,
and I save them. My ebay store,“arthousemouse”, features vintage
treasures seeking a new home.
Collecting has inspired my recent work: paintings, assemblages
and an upcoming series of collages. Previously ‘cast off’, forgotten
materials are transformed, re-imagined, and loved again.
2022 Nostalgia Now, Fine Arts Center Highland Park
2022 Love & Collaboration, Fine Arts Center Highland Park
2019 Impact: Color/ Black and White, Fine Arts Center, Highland Park
2008 Highland Park Art Walk
2007 Focus on the Arts (2003, 2005)
2005 Life is Sweet, Pop-Up Show
2004 Benchmark/ Highwood Arts Project
2002 First Biennial Dimensional Salon, Society of Illustrators, NY
2003 Around the Coyote, Bucktown Chicago
2001 The Box Project, Macdaddy Salon Chicago
2000 Millenium Material: the Fine Art of Polymer, Suburban Fine Arts Center
1995 The Fun Show, Uncle Fun Chicago
1994 The Neo-Futurists Hall of Presidents
1991 Shoes Through the Ages
1990 Open Spectrum, David Adler Cultural Center
1990 December Bow Wow/ Dogs Doghouses and other Fine Containers JHG
1990 Ravenswood Arts Festival (Best in Show)
1989 Broadway Art Fair, Watertower Art Fair, Evanston Lakeshore Arts Fest
1989 Scenes from Everyday Life, Joy Horwich Gallery Chicago
1988 Small Works, Artphase Chicago
1988 Off the Wall, Chiarascuro Chicago
1998 Box Show, Group Show, Artphase Chicago