I love working on puzzles: crosswords, acrostics, cryptograms, anything that challenges the mind.  This sense of solving problems also extends to family, community, and the world at large.  In my community, I help to make sure that those in need of quilts get them: flood victims, veterans, children, women's shelters, etc.  I also donate quilts for fund-raising groups: my guilds, schools, San Francisco's Gay Men's Chorus, to name a few.

Quilt-making gives me that outlet to make poetic statements.  Sometimes it's simply a way to provoke a question, such as: "Why is that pig in that quilt?" and the response is: "I date my quilts by the year of the Asian animal - i.e., made in the Year of the Pig."  I may include other literary elements: puns, metaphors, riddles, personal history, rebuses, and plain ole jokes.

I feel as though I've made a successful quilt if it makes people laugh, or if it makes people say, "Hey, that looks like kids made that quilt."  I love kids' art.

The Friends of Sharon Art Studio (FOSAS) is devoted to sustaining and enhancing the Sharon Art Studio’s (SAS) goal to promote artistic development, craftsmanship, and creative expression. FOSAS is proud to be a partner of the SF Recreation & Parks Department (SFRPD) to bring Sharon Art Studio’s outstanding art programs to you. FOSAS believes that art education is an essential component of a healthy community and strives to ensure that quality, noncompetitive art programs are affordable and accessible to all.  Sharon Art Studio offers classes for youth and adults at two facilities: the beautiful historic Sharon Building in the Eastern end of Golden Gate Park, and now at Mission Arts Center. To register for classes and workshops, visit www.sfreconline.org.

I will be showing new work on paper and canvas, along with a jacquard tapestry or two, at the upcoming open studio event at The Point.  My background in fabric design and my life-long involvement with fine art come together in these works.

I am a designer, architect and social entrepreneur. Four years ago I decided to leave corporate architecture and focus on creating beautiful hand-woven and hand-printed textiles with gifted artisans around the world.

My studio took form in early 2008 with the vision to achieve a balance between dynamic, vital design and timeless traditions.

Become part of my journey to promote exquisite ethical-luxury products. Your support helps to improve the lives of entire communities: men, women and children whose artistic heritage – and livelihood – are at risk.

My Mission:
To design and produce original, exquisite textiles that combine Old World traditions with fresh modern design.

My Commitment:
To bring you luxury goods with a conscience.

I personally engage and support artisan entrepreneurs through education projects that foster creativity, learning, innovation and interest for improving their craft, their environment and the lives of their families and communities.

My Brand Promise:
To inspire and delight you.

My 44 year engagement with fiber has led me on many adventures. At the moment I am working in both Silk and Wool. All of the Wool and some of the Silk is repurposed. I create quilts, pillow covers, purses and small matted art works. A good amount of my time is spent teaching the art of my craft.

In learning to draw, one learns to see. An artist must become an accomplished observer of detail, then be brave and bold to put it to paper, pen sometimes quivering in hand. the rewards are much more than artwork, for the Universe not noticed before appears in your line of vision in all of its wonder and glory. It was there all the time, waiting for you to see it. Now, start drawing"
"To paint is to love, and to love is to live again." Henry Miller

Frequently asked questions about my penises:

Why did you start making penises?
I got my M.S. in Art, focusing on Fibers in 1975. I was in college in the 60’s and graduate school in the 70’s and was influenced by the aesthetics of the period. A lot of the women in my weaving and textile classes were making wall hangings the looked like vulvas. I wanted to make things that would help men feel good about themselves… and at the same time I was coming out as a big fag.

How long does it take to make a penis?
Three hours for a simple one, up to several months for a complicated one.

Are they knitted or crocheted?
Crocheted. Knitting is done with two needles, crochet is done with a single hook.

What materials do you use?
I use yarns that are cotton, silk, wool and synthetic. Sometimes I recycle yarn from by taking apart thrift-store sweaters. A few yarns are hand dyed. Some penises are crocheted from found string. In the past I have crocheted with sewing thread and colored telephone wire. I sometimes I use beads and other found objects for embellishment.

Are they cut or uncut?
All of the penises have foreskins.

How do you put one on?
You don’t, they aren’t penis warmers. They do open, however. There is a drawstring in each foreskin. So while they are not designed to be worn on a penis, you can put other things in them.

Did anyone model for them?
No.

What do you stuff them with for display?
I use plastic Easter eggs. They’re the right size and weight.

How are your penises hung?
I use sturdy push pins in the back. It’s easier than using nails. I usually hang them in a grid. There is a group of pink ones that I hang in a triangle.

How seriously do you take your work?
Of course there is an element of humor in my work, how could there not be? Whenever I talk about my work with people, it isn’t long before they start laughing about questions like “How are your penises hung?” But I do take my work seriously. It comes from being an art student for seven years. I use the word “penis” instead of “dick” or “cock” specifically because I think it’s a more serious term.

Any interesting stories about your penises?
Tons. One of the earliest stories occurred during my graduate exhibit. A straight male graduate assistant was taking a beginning art class through the university galleries. He stopped by my work and picked up on of my penises to talk about it with his class. When he realized what it was, I guess he didn’t want to be seen holding a penis, he dropped it instantly.
Back in the old days when I entered art shows using slides, there were several times when I was accepted into a show, but my work was rejected when it arrived after they realized they weren’t crocheted abstract forms, they really were penises.
I once accidentally stabbed my finger with a very fine gauge crochet hook. Joe, my boyfriend at the time and my roommate, Sue, took me to the hospital to have it removed. The emergency room staff could not take in the fact that I had been crocheting, they really wanted to believe that my female roommate had stabbed me with what they assumed was her crochet hook.

What do people do with your penises after they buy them?
A friend of mine uses one for a change purse; it gets interesting comments in gay bars. I know a lesbian who used one for packing. My grandmother used to crochet cotton animals with a drawstring…you would put your little end pieces of soap inside one and use it to wash with in the bathtub or shower. So, yes, I know someone who uses one in his shower.
Some people put them on their altars. Since they have drawstrings, they lend themselves quite well to being ritual objects. Some people put them among their plants.
But, mostly people display them on a shelf or on the wall. They look good in a group. While there is not a right or wrong way to display them, I prefer that people not put them in display boxes.

How many have you made?
Hundreds.

Do you sell your penises?
Yes

Do you exhibit them?
That’s what it’s all about.

Are you obsessed with penises?
Well, I am a fag.