I was born in Paris in 1960, and grew up there and in Provence. I studied Literature, Russian, and Anthropology in Aix-en-Provence, Bordeaux, Paris, Kiev, Berkeley, and Quebec, and at age 24 traveled for 14 weeks to the Canadian Arctic with Arctic and Inuit art experts Prof. Nelson Graburn and Dr. Molly Lee, and Inuit symbolism expert Prof. Bernard Saladin d’Anglure.
I had the good fortune of working 10 years at the Smithsonian’s Arctic Studies Center, on the team of the major joint Russian-American touring exhibition “Crossroads of Continents: Cultures of Alaska and Siberia”, and curated a scaled-down version of it for lighter travel. The project took me to European Russia, Alaska and Siberia, and their museums whose storage rooms were full of the most extraordinary Native art. I simultaneously studied Sculpture and Art Furniture at the Corcoran Art School in D.C. under Bert and Somsri Schmutzhart and Rick Wall, and learned welding under Baltimore artist Donna Reinsel. I co-founded an artists collective called the “Washington Heavy School,” which included Donna Reinsel, my husband Norman Dorsett, and several other artists/architects. It was very exciting and fun. I had a few shows of my large masks. I also took American citizenship at that time (that makes me “Provençal-American”, I think).
With the birth of my sons Olivier and then Nicholas, I moved to Austin (1997). I became a Reiki Master (Usui, Karuna™ and Tibetan); I still practice Reiki daily, but teach less now than at the beginning of my Austin life.
In 1999 I created the French language school La Petite Provence (www.lapetiteprovence.org).
I started painting with Brigitte Edery in 2000. I had always wanted to paint, and I needed a specific painting for my entrance: I wanted a Sainte-Victoire, my childhood mountain, and couldn’t quite afford those on the market (now you can see mine here).
Two years ago, I was able to resume metal work. I attended classes at the amazing metal department at Austin Community College, happily studying Art Metals under Trent Temple, and currently studying Metal Smithing under Troy DeFrates.