As the first born of six girls, I learned early on the importance of resourcefulness to maintaining one’s so called “spot in the boat.” The creative use of available materials is evident in the cross country journey to a new job, my young parents took from Denver, Colorado to Syracuse, New York, when I was 6 weeks old. My “baby bed” was a dresser drawer with a pillow in it, in the back seat of the Nash Lafayette they drove. My baby bottle was warmed in a tin can with a wire draped from the manifold. (wonder if the fumes can be blamed for my so called craziness) 
My first “work of art” was when, at about 15 months, I used a stick of butter left on the table, to “paint” the picture window behind the couch I had crawled up on, as I was not walking at the time. This first painting adventure occurred while my mother rescued clothes from the clothesline during a rainstorm.
Growing up and to this day I was the one appointed to figure out something magic from whatever was available in the refrigerator to feed us all for lunch. Often a surprise “guest” my father had brought home was added to the mix. I have since learned to transfer that “figure it out skill” to my way of making art. I tell these stories to say that those early and practical uses of available materials and experience are what I want to explore in this blog and more seriously in my art. What magic can be sought, learned and created from “available materials” as we mix it up in new visions of what can be shared in this dialog? For as I journey into my “third act” my intent and desire is to pull all varied pieces of this puzzle together into something fun and wonderful. Enjoy- ~ljl~
