She went to school for commercial art design, and spent twenty years as an art director/designer in the advertising field.
Her art education continued over the years as she took classes and courses on design, children's book writing and illustrating, textile arts, print and papermaking, watercolor and pen and ink drawing at The Worcester Art Museum, The DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, and The Worcester Center For Crafts.
A diagnosis of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in the spring of 1995 and the subsequent course of treatment, which included chemotherapy and ultimately a successful bone marrow transplant in 1998, led her to a reassessment of her personal goals. She opened an art studio, first in her home, and later in leased space, devoted to teaching art to children from the age of six to early teens. The studio was in operation for six years until her own two daughters entered their teen years.
She currently shares a studio in an artist's community, with another woman artist, which they half-jokingly refer to as "Wandering Minds Studio". She nurtures her dream of one day visiting Ireland.