I believe in the power of story, and I believe in exploring inner landscapes, playing with the past, and looking at history and narrative with a fresh perspective. I work in oils, watercolors, and ceramics, frequently incorporating antique gilt frames and antique china (my lovely late mother had a charming antique shop); and I draw extensively on my academic background in art, history, and literature to create what I hope are timeless, romantic, intellectually thoughtful, and visually layered portraits of novelistic heroines and heroes.

And lots... And lots... Of lover's eyes...

My degrees include a Ph.D. in French literature from Yale University, where I studied with Harold Bloom and Peter Brooks, an M.Phil. from Paris IV, an M.A. from Lyon II, an M.A. in comparative literature from S.F.S.U., and graduate studies and a B.A. in the philosophy of language from UC Berkeley and Pomona college.

I’m the author-editor of Shakespeare & Me (Penguin) and Why We Read Jane Austen (Random House). I've just researched and written a wonderfully sumptuous art book, The Eye Art Book, and I'm currently painting the cheerful watercolors for the upcoming Illustrated Guide to Antiques.

My paintings have been acquired for private collections, exhibited at Bergdorf Goodman, the Miller Gallery, the Liz Lidgett Gallery, and others; made available as prints through Artfully Walls and Anthropologie; and featured in the forums "Colossal", "My Modern Met", and "Antiques & the Arts Weekly", the magazines Tatler and Where Women Create, and the canonical reference books Lover's Eyes: Eye Miniatures from the Skier Collection and Phaidon's The Jewelry Book, as well as included in the decor books Beautiful Living and art for everyone. View my c.v. here.

I’ve lived in Paris, Lyon, London, New Haven, San Francisco, and West Hollywood, and my art assistant-mini-shih-tzu Agatha and I currently live in the hills of the Napa Valley, California. Read more about my studio-home in this article in Where Women Create.