 My twin brother and I were born on October 20, 1948 (which was
also my mother's father's birthday). I feel very lucky to have been
raised in beautiful surroundings. We grew up in Sudbury, MA when
it was still rural and relatively sparsely populated. We lived in
the house my father was born in. My paternal grandparents lived
next door in a beautiful big house my grandfather had designed for
my grandmother and their children. It was after the Second World
War and long after the Depression, but my father still grew all
our vegetables. My mother canned and froze what we didn't eat during
the summer. We also raised chickens for fresh eggs and meat, had
turkeys, ducks, rabbits, cats and dogs. My father's brother lived
with my grandparents until he was in his forties. He was my favorite
uncle and kept a horse and goats in our barn, Occasionally, he would
take me for horse back rides. We also liked a lot of the same things:
animals, painting, books, and collecting stuff.
I come from a rich artistic lineage. My mother, Grace Godwin Way,
was an accomplished painter and HER father (with whom I shared a
birthday) was the well known illustrator and cartoonist Frank Godwin.
I enjoyed my mother's stories of her childhood in New York City
and the exciting and adventurous life her father led as a successful
illustrator. At eight I decided I would grow up to be an illustrator,
too. I had some distinct advantages growing up in a family of artists.
I attended Sudbury Schools, still have friends I went to nursery
school with. After graduating from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High
School, I entered the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
in 1968. I was there for two years, during which time I struck up
what was to become a lifelong friendship with my Art History professor,
Cecil Wylde and his family. In the summer of 1970 I moved to South
Dartmouth with the Wyldes to be their summer babysitter and fell
in love with the South Coast. I transferred to the Swain School
of Design in New Bedford where I earned my BFA in Design in 1972.
And, with the exception of 1992-1999 when I lived in Colorado, I
have lived in Dartmouth ever since.
While I was at the Museum School I started filling black bound
sketchbooks with drawings, a practice I continue to this day. And,
where I go for reference material. I paint in watercolors and use
graphite and colored pencils for accents. I use Winsor Newton cold
press paper. I feel a strong bond with animals and even though I
am trained to draw the human figure I choose to draw animals and
plants. After I graduated from Swain, I started my freelance career.
I have done some editorial illustration, but mostly juvenile educational
illustration. I have illustrated one trade book (Baby Bunny's Busy
Day), one privately published book for St. Anne's School in Colorado, an alphabet book (A Fine Book of Letters) and an anecdotal book : 'Pearls' - as in 'pearls of wisdom'.
In 2002 I started a greeting card company (Beach Pea Press). I have
exhibited my original watercolors widely in southern New England
and my paintings are in collections worldwide. |
