Whether one sculpts by adding or taking away, by modeling or chiseling, one works to discover essence by playing with substance. I have to remind myself that the “likeness” of a person is not a precise replica of the person’s features, but rather, a glimpse of that person’s spirit glowing through the material. I play with bits of clay, adding and subtracting, attentive to the moods and movements of the person whose character I wish to portray.  The portrait emerges as a presence – often unexpectedly. Once this happens, it is wise to leave it alone rather than overwork it and lose the very spirit I have captured.

I received my training from The Cooper Union, NYC, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute and School of Sculpture, Princeton. I attribute much my lifelong interest in portraiture to my grandfather who was an impressionist painter of portraits. I have taught studio art at Barnard College and The Brearley School in NYC, Kent School in Kent, CT, and Princeton Junior School which I founded and directed for twenty-two years. My book, Wisdom at Play, applauds the inborn capacity of children  to create and become transformed in the process.