A landscape and abstract painter, Ms. Stevens' studio is at the Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California. She helped found the Center, worked as its gallery director, and now works as a publicist for its exhibits and events. She holds an MFA in painting, and her work, which was recently reviewed in Artweek Magazine, has been widely exhibited since 1979.

Thoughts:

While I was designing this mask, my dearest uncle became ill with a rare form of liver cancer. He died less than two weeks after I completed it. This was a difficult time for me, but I felt committed to help with the Hospice Mask Project because my uncle received Hospice care during his last days. Also an interesting artistic issue resulted from painting the mask. I had spent most of my career working with the human form and had missed this activity in recent years. I rediscovered my roots as a figurative painter and will continue drawing and painting from the mode, as I had once done. I worked strictly within the context of the human form and the operation of light on an object. So, although my mask design is not particularly colorful, it was cathartic for me during my uncle's illness.