"I was born in Marin County, CA and grew up in the San Francisco bay area (in Mill Valley). Married young and lived in Oregon for 15 years; obtained a BFA in graphic design from California College of Arts and Crafts in 1989. I operate a freelance design business, Red Eye Design, from my home in Alameda, CA where I live on a floating home. I have two grown children, five grandkids and, yes, and yikes, two great grandbabies!"

​

"When I prep a large canvas for a painting with acrylics — or when I tack a blank sheet of Arches watercolor paper up — I welcome the nervous excitement of expressing myself with paint, charcoal, pastels, India ink, or maybe a mix of red dirt from the Berkeley hills. I do not find a large, white, gessoed canvas frightening — for me it is an opening into a part of me that needs to come out and be seen — it’s a deeply personal journey. I trust that process of expressive painting and am usually surprised at the results. I also am often frustrated and full of doubt.

​

I need to paint. I need it as much as I need to breathe. I am humbled and grateful I have found myself here — to wonder where all these colors, splatters, drips and scribbles come from.

​

And I want to express deep gratitude to Leigh Hyams and all I learned from her (or, perhaps I should more accurately say, all she pushed me into!). I stumbled into her painting workshops at Esalen on the California coast in 2008 and had no idea she would split me open like a watermelon. Thank you, Leigh."

​

​

See Emily's website