I am not one of those pilots who dreamed of flight since I was a small child. In fact, I spent my childhood drawing and painting everything I could imagine, and had a rather gripping fear of flight until I was in my twenties. However, I have always believed in facing life head-on and have never been afraid of change. And so two summers ago, this late-blooming pilot took my first ride in a biplane and was surprised when my pilot, who must have sensed my adventurous spirit, decided to throw in a few aerobatic maneuvers (even though I had not requested-or paid- for them)! This was my first time ever in a single engine airplane, my first time upside-down, and the beginning of my obsession with aerobatic flying.

Post- the Waco UPF-7 ride, I immediately took up flying lessons at my local airport in Hornell, NY. The fear was replaced by a healthy respect for the physics and mechanics of flying and an overwhelming need to continue learning. A year and a half later, I got my Private Pilot’s Certificate, but before I had even completed my long solo cross-country requirement (about six months into my training) I decided I needed to see what the term “unusual attitudes “ meant first hand. I took a few lessons at Hanscom Airfield, and flew a Super Decathlon. I was very new to flying, and the experience literally turned my life upside down. But I was given a taste for basic aerobatics that has fueled my passion for flying, and has given me a desire to pursue aerobatics. If granted the Douglas Yost Memorial Aerobatic Scholarship, I will use it to turn this dream into a reality.

I’ve been a professional artist for more than a decade, and a professor of painting for six years. Through my artwork, I’ve been able to share my experiences with a wide range of audiences and students. I’ve taught art to young children in Mexico (1996) and spent many years teaching both college students and adults (2001-present) that wish to continue learning in their retirement. I’ve exhibited and given lectures at many universities and secondary schools over the last 8 years, sharing my vision of the world through my art. My art has always been about my life, and flying has been a life-changing event for me. Since I started flight training, flying has taken over as the subject of my paintings. I seek to find a visual language to an experience that I find so multi-sensory and often difficult to describe.

In 2009 I received a New York Foundation for the Arts grant to videotape unusual attitudes in flight for artistic research. This is the first time I have convinced a selection committee that art and aviation go hand in hand, and since there is no aerobatic instructor nearby, I used the grant to film chandelles, lazy eights, wingovers and spins while my instructor performed them.

I am scheduled to give a public lecture entitled “Unusual Attitudes in Painting” at several universities/institutions in the next six months. In this talk I will discuss my experience being a pilot and an artist, and how the worlds of aviation and art collide through my artwork. I am determined to bridge these two worlds and am wholly committed to both careers, and believe strongly that I can inspire young artists and others to explore aviation and perhaps aerobatics themselves.

In the short time that I have been flying, I have immersed myself in the world of aviation as much as possible. A single mother of three children, who has a full-time job of teaching, and full-time job of painting does not have a great deal of extra time. Through creative scheduling, I made the time, and have managed about 150 logged hours since the biplane ride. I’m a member of Women in Aviation International, the AOPA, the International Aerobatic Club and the Experimental Aircraft Association, and the Dansville Pilot Association. While I wait for an opportunity to fly more aerobatics, I am also pursuing my instrument rating. I will probably never give up my position at Alfred University teaching art, because that is very much a part of who I am. Once I complete my instrument rating, I plan to get my Commercial and Flight Instructor certificates. I would love to teach flying and to start a flying club at Alfred University, where there is a whole student body of potential aviators/aviatrixes. Being a woman, an artist and a mother, I hope to be a role model in particular to young women. I know that aerobatics will make me a safer and more confident pilot, and competition aerobatics, which I hope to pursue, will not only be great fun but will make me a better instructor in the future.

Teaching has been the greatest learning experience for me. It has taught me the range of needs and styles of so many different people, and it has helped me to see the potential in each individual and how to nurture that. To be an artist takes talent, skill (which can be learned), and intuition; but it also takes drive. I always tell my students that to be an artist you have to make art, all of the time. You have to take risks in the work to learn new visual languages. I find being a pilot is very similar: one is always learning, building on that body of knowledge and seeking new experiences to deepen the understanding. And like art, it takes tremendous drive and confidence to be a safe pilot, and a lot of practice. Taking aerobatic instruction would be the equivalent of exploring a new language, albeit through flying. I am eager to learn this and be able to share it.

The artist in me sees nothing more exciting and beautiful then a horizon spinning around a wingtip, and the pilot in me recognizes the extreme challenge of learning to execute spins, rolls, loops and hammerheads safely and with finesse. Aerobatics is the stick and rudder type of flying I love, and yet the aerobatic pilot needs a rock-solid understanding of aerodynamics. Practice and study are the only ways to turn knowledge into second-nature, and for the aerobatic maneuver to transform into art in the sky. I hope one day to fly aerobatic routines in competition, to compete nationally. I also hope to share the compelling and exciting sport of aerobatics with the world through my artwork and my teaching.