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Not surprisingly, my mother, father, sister, and I put hearts on everything as I was growing up. This seemed to be our special family symbol of love. Because I was a New Year's baby, mom changed my childhood birthday celebrations to Valentine's Day so my friends would be more available. I felt like the "Harte of Hearts," an honor I've always cherished.

I simply love to create beauty and color that can brighten the spirit of the world — no wonder my drawings often portray messengers of joyful and loving hearts. I had a very separate experience. When my daughter Aarin was born, her father wasn't there. At first, I was scared to death but then I found courage and comfort in realizing that women the world over were giving birth at the same moment as me.

I felt connected to the magical tribe of womankind That's how we came into the world of San Francisco together. What a start!

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What my children Aarin and Jay grew up with, instead of them seeing the side of my suffering and what it took for me to persevere, I strived to make certain that what they saw was that I was this superhuman 'I-can-do-anything' person. The upside is that it gave them a way of thinking that they, too, could do anything. The flip side was that with a mom this superhuman, how could they find their own place in the world?

Lois and Smitty became the first to sell my creations and I made pilgrimages to The Chair House for 20 years. Each time, I left hours after my arrival, having unveiled each individually wrapped piece of jewelry inside its Japanese mulberry paper and yarn.