I am a painter and have been painting since high school.  I was born in Mineola, NY and left Long Island when I got married.  Studying art in many places I wound up with a BFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine.

I have been married twice, once to Bruce A. Martin, a Marine fighter pilot and secondly to William F. Rabe, a Gulf Oil distributor.  I had a son, Bruce A. Martin, Jr who died.  I have no other children.

Besides painting, my work activity includes writing for the newspaper, a radio station, advertising copywriting and eight and half years as a writer in the news bureau at Lynchburg College, a job I loved.

Although I did not grow up in Lynchburg, I do have some roots here.  If you remember the J.P. Bell Co. of Lynchburg (no longer in existence), my great grandfather was J.P. Bell who came to Lynchburg in the mid 1800’s. 

My parents were Kitty and Charles W. Gibson, Jr.  who came to Virginia after my father retired from law.  My mother was an artist. I am an only child.

I have lived in many places: Florida, Texas, South Carolina, California and here in Lynchburg.  I have been to Europe twice. 

Through the years I have taken part in various activities including Crisis Line, Daily Bread, after school tutoring, the Stephen Ministry at St. John’s Episcopal Church, the Art Festival, the Art Club, the Fine Arts Center and the Lynchburg Branch of the National League of American Pen Women.

I am a long-time member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lynchburg.