Inspiring Women Winter 2017

prototypes (actually make them);
my natural artistic talent was a
godsend. I applied and secured
an internship with General Motors
in 1977. In 1978, only 8 out of 45
students completed the course at
Cal State Long Beach and were
awarded a Bachelor of Science
degree in Industrial Design. I
graduated top of my class—the
only woman to complete the
course in 1978 and one of a select
handful of women Industrial
Designers in the United States. That
year I was awarded the Industrial
Design Society of America Award
in our region. Quite an honor.
In 1978 I accepted a job with
Chrysler doing automotive interiors and enjoyed it very much until the slump in the automotive
industry in 1979—80. Not to be defeated, I soon found a job with Water Darwin Teague and
Associates in Seattle, Washington--doing aircraft interiors. That was a brilliant job and I’d happily
be there still if I wasn’t headhunted by Peugeot Société Automobile which brought me, on a 3-
year contract, to Europe and specifically to England in 1980.
By 1983, having married and become pregnant with our first child, I branched off on my own as
an independent industrial designer working on everything from cuddly toys for Boots the
Chemists, coach interiors for British Rail, to kitchen appliances for Thorne EMI and volunteering
my graphic design work for organizations like FAWCO, NAC, and my local community until I
retired in 2010 from “industrial design” work altogether and was finally free to pursue my passion
for art and become an “artist”!
“Beach Days”
Over the years I have learned that
artists come in all walks of life and
variations of temperament. True
artists have a natural affinity with the
world around them and have an
unquenchable curiosity, forever
learning… they usually let their art
speak for them. It is also deeply
emotional! Evocative to the point of
numbness. It has the power to focus
thought and direction. The state of
mind of the viewer also affects the
message. One of my paintings
showed a calm stillness in the cool,
clear waters at Lake Annecy, France,
most people saw it as peaceful,
however, I noticed one lady was
rocking and disturbed. When I asked
her if she was alright, she just said “I’m
on the edge of that pier… I just want
the water to take me”. Luckily, my
vicar was at the exhibition with his
wife at the time and he went over to
comfort her. I saw her years later, she
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