Artist Statement

I am a former national team, Hall of Fame soccer player. When my career was ending, I found a deep loss, worried that all of my experiences were fleeting: the play, connections with peers, the dreams, the ups and downs, the awards and achievements. It’s said the athlete dies twice: the first time when their career ends, and the second - the ultimate.

I asked myself, if I had all the money in the world and I could do anything, what would I do? The answer was to start painting and go to art school.

I took a graduate class at Boston College titled the Psychology of Self Control. I have always known I have artistic talent and it came out on the soccer field. I was a very creative player with a magic touch. I felt like a dancer. But I lacked the discipline to pick up a brush and paint. The class forced me to buy some art supplies and start a project. I was also inspired by Julia Cameron’s book The Artist Way – A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.

I enrolled in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. One of my teachers told me I made the right choice, I belonged there. I struggle to get going, but once I start, I am alive and deeply involved in the process and flow. I am forced to stay. And I love the company of others. Although I now have a studio, I love being in a room with other creative beings.

After a semester, I found my car kept driving me from Boston to Provincetown, a beautiful location at the tip of Cape Cod. There was a new school called the Provincetown International Art Institute. A handful of us enrolled, and we spent our days going from drawing to oil painting, watercolour, sculpture, poetry and writing classes. I spent five years there, growing, healing and enjoying the experience, the creative culture and my colleagues.

My work has been about capturing moments, experiences and feelings. I found with art that a painting can create permanence from a moment. Even though we have photos and memories, I found every second in sports vanishes. When we put a brush to a canvas, it can be there for a lifetime. I needed my memories, feelings and experiences to last and I am now so grateful to look at a painting and be able to go back in time to the people who were around me and the experiences that unfolded.

Really just by chance, I have created over 175 paintings. They were never made with the intention to sell, or to be a pretty picture on a wall of an art gallery or someone’s home. Although I have shown in galleries, sold work and been commissioned, I felt my art could be affected by outside influences and I have avoided this to stay true to my purpose. I am also quite sensitive. I know some pieces are better or more special than others, but they all have a meaning and I am thankful for all parts of the process. I have chosen here to include some of my art from certain time periods of my life.

Finally, I believe most people who know me would not even know I have an artistic background. Many would say I am a lover of life. I love to do so many things and I have travelled all over the world exploring countries and cultures. I have been to nine men’s FIFA World Cups and five Women’s World Cups. I have spent my energies playing and growing the Beautiful Game. It has been a grind to fight for global equality in women’s soccer and I have had a great life coaching and running a business and charity. I am proud that the US Soccer Hall of Fame invited me to showcase 46 of my paintings at their museum. It felt special to be recognized.

This website has been created just to share parts of my life. It is the book I have yet to finish