Biography

Personal Statement

Born and raised in New Jersey, I shared the middle berth in my family of eight children, and have always walked to the beat of a different drummer. A circuitous route found me moving to Belfast, Maine in 1981. The first half of my life as an artist was filled with corporate commissions and full time sales of my paintings. After decades spent creating large, technically demanding airbrushed fabric paintings, my second half finds me delving deep into the intimacy of oils and smaller canvases.

I paint what is around me. Yet, my biggest interest is in the elements of the painting. Temperature, value, color, light and subject. I create all my colors from three tubes of paint, with the addition of white. First I decide if I want a cool or a warm palette. I am juggling multiple balls in the air when I mix my palette, load my brush, make each stroke. For me, it is that lovely blend of intellect and emotion that I am looking for.   

In 2014 I opened the Finch Gallery, and I closed those doors in 2019. Now I paint only in the late autumn, winter and spring. In the summer I play. I garden. I have embraced winter on Penobscot Bay, and not only kayak year round, but for the last two years have begun to enjoy cold water immersion. How to feel alive! I hope you enjoy my work.

 
 
 

Resume

Education

  • 1970: Studied art at Trenton State College,New Jersey

  • 1971: Studied bronze sculpting and life drawing at Philadelphia College of Art, Pennsylvania

  • 1975: Studied bronze sculpting and drawing at Montclair State College,New Jersey

  • 1976: Independent Study through Montclair State College in Santa Rosa, California

Workshops

  • Direct Dye: with Lenore Davis

  • Fabric Manipulation: with Priscilla Sage

  • Japanese Paste Resist: with Shigeko Spear

  • Oil Painting Intensive: with Emily Brown

  • Independent Study: with Kris Engman; Advanced Oil Painting and Advanced Color Theory

Select Collections

  • Claremont Managing Co., Braintree, Massachusetts

  • Rowe Design Association, Silver Spring, Maryland

  • Maine Public Utilities, Augusta, Maine

  • Peat, Marwick & Mitchell, Portland, Maine

  • University of Maine, Orono, Maine

  • Sterling Winthrop, Inc., Collegeville, Pa.

  • MBNA,Maine and Delaware *

  • Great Eastern Mussel Farm, Tenants Harbor, Maine

  • State of Vermont, Bennington, Vermont *

  • MSAD 34, Belfast, Maine; MSAD 104, Eastport, Maine

  • Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor, Maine *

  • Waldo County Hospital, Belfast, Maine *

  • AIG, Hamilton, Bermuda 1997

* denotes multiple piece installations

Publications

  • Great Eastern Mussel Cookbook 1995

  • Airbrush Magazine 1995

  • TideMark Calendars, Quiltscapes, Jerri Finch 1994 LandMark Calendars, Quilts 1989

  • DownEast Magazine, Jan1984/Jan1988/May 1999

  • Creative Ideas for Living, July 1986

  • FiberArts Magazine, Mar 1984/May 1984/Jan 1986

  • American Craft Magazine 1996

  • ZEST Home & Garden 2018

Exhibitions Since 1990

  • 1990: InterWoven Designs, St. Louis, Missouri

  • 1991: AmericaHouseGallery,Piermont-on-Hudson,NY

  • 1996: Fantastic Fibers, Paducah, Kentucky

  • 1997: In the Land We Trust, York, Maine

  • 1998: ThreadScapes-Interpretations of the American Landscape, Atlanta, Georgia

  • 2003: Harborsquare Gallery, Rockland, Maine

  • 2003: Redfield’s Gallery, Northeast Harbor, Maine

  • 2004: Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport, Maine; Honorable Mention

  • 2013: Forest for the Trees, Aarhus Gallery, Belfast, Maine

  • 2014: Land, Sea and Home, Elizabeth Moss Gallery, Falmouth, Maine. Solo Exhibit.

  • 2018/19: Thomas Moser Showroom, Freeport, Maine

  • 2014-2019: The Finch Gallery, Belfast Maine

Grant Recipient

  • 1992 State of Maine Fellowship in Design for Fabric Design