After High School I moved to Hawaii. I did the Academic dance focusing on Dance, Theatre, and Cultural Anthropology. After six years I had a Master’s degree in Pacific Island Studies, eventually moving to Northern California to study F. M. Alexander Technique. I have had lots of Body/Mind training since then, and over thirty years of Performing Arts experience.

Around five years old I started stringing “Hippie Beads”. That led into a lifetime of loving Beading and the making of three-dimensional objects with shells, driftwood etc. When my mother Melvinita Hooper and her husband Jack Hooper asked me to model for them, it started me on a ten-year Life Modeling experience for the Bay Area Model’s Guild. The first time I was in a painting class a sweet man named Takeshi came and asked if I could model for his Sculpture class. I immediately wanted to Sculpt, and did start ten years later with Tebby George at Fort Mason. Ten years of desire and passion poured out into Sculpting once I began. At one point in this adventure, I started Painting/Drawing the Figure, always working with live models at my Studio in Berkeley, CA (Sticky Fingers Sculpture Studio). There were ongoing Sculpture/Drawing/Painting groups for a twelve-year period. During this time I felt the urge to work on my own. Eventually I stopped all groups, and took a break. During that time I did very little Scupting, Painting, and Beading.

In November of 2008, the first painting of this style that you see now started to be born. This experience has been about receiving the paintings. I have no idea what will come through or what will be next. It is an exciting process. I am not a technically trained artist, yet I was lucky to take classes through Adult Education and Art Centers. I wish to Thank and Honor my teachers here: Tebby George Sculpture, Carol Tarzier Sculpture, Harriet Moore Sculpture, Mark Herman Ceramics, and Ruth Block Painting.

Fred Dodsworth did a nice article on me in the June 10-12, 2003, UC Berkeley Daily Planet