I was born in 1956 in Juneau, Alaska, a few years before Alaska became the 49th state.  My mother, Irene, is Tlingit Indian from the village of Hoonah, Alaska; my father, William, is Filipino American from Seattle, WA.  I was introduced to Alaskan Native art while in high school, when I produced my first carved cedar box.  During the next year, I met master Tlingit dancer and regalia-maker Harry K. Bremner, Sr., who invited me to join his touring dance troupe, the Mt. St. Elias Dancers from Yakutat, Alaska.  Around the same time, I met my future husband, Bill Hudson. 

After the birth of our first child, I began making custom clothing and hats for family and friends.  Hudson & I started decorating our house and furniture with Northwest Coast Indian art, teaching ourselves the intricacies of formline design along the way.  A few years later, I became interested in landscaping, and soon found myrself the owner of Kahtahah Landscape Gardeners, a company which developed and maintained a lush, naturalized garden for Sealaska Corporation, one of Juneau's largest companies.

For the past ten years, I have focused most of my energies on artwork inspired by my Alaska Native heritage.  After apprenticing to master Chilkat weaver Jennie Thlunaut in 1986, I began teaching Chilkat weaving to local Native women and organizing yearly gatherings of the Shax'saani Keek' Weavers' Circle.  I recently completed my first Chikat blanket, for a chief in Vancouver, BC. 

I also studied clothing design and metalsmithing at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, NM   I've made about 40 traditional Alaskan ceremonial robes, as well as numerous traditionally-inspired carvings, paintings, small weavings, and collages. Many of my pieces have won awards at various shows around the country.

I also spent four years working with the Naa Kahidi Native Theater, as costume & set designer, tour manager, stage manager, actress and singer/musician, touring the US, Canada, and Europe.  I wouldn't want to tour again, but I still love designing costumes as much as ever.

My husband, Bill Hudson,has collaborated with me on several large public art installations throughout Alaska.  We've also collaborated on a number of children's theater productions in Alaska and Colorado, as well as running our on-going art marketing business, Hudson Hudson Ltd.

My work is presently represented by Stonington Gallery in Seattle, WA and by Inuit Gallery in Vancouver, BC.

Recent Shows

Mar '01 Heard Museum Indian Market, Phoenix, AZ, Best of Show Award

Mar '01 Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage, AK. Traveling to Peabody Essex Museum, Boston, MA

Feb '01 IAIA Hearts for the Arts Exhibit, Santa Fe, NM

Aug '00  Santa Fe Indian Market, Santa Fe, NM.  Best of Classification Award,  Painting.

May '00 Shax'sanni Keek' Weavers Circle Exhibit, Museum of Northern B.C.  Prince Rupert, B.C., Canada

Jan '00  IAIA Triennial Alumni Show, IAIA Museum, Santa Fe, NM.

Apr '99  Chilkat & Ravenstail Weaving, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle WA

Feb '99  Blanket Statements, Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Center for the Arts, Banff, Alberta, Canada

Recent Collections

Aug '00 Having to Look Closely, private collection, New York, NY, Button blanket robe, 5 ft x 6 ft, wool fabric, abalone buttons.

July '00 Athapascan Fiddlers' Festival, Doyon Inc., Fairbanks, AK, Button blanket wall mural, 5 ft x 6 ft, wool, leather, sinew, buttons.

June '00 Diamonds Robe, private collection, Sitka, AK, Ravenstail ceremonial robe, 5 ft x 6 ft, handspun and commercial yarns.

June ë00 Eagle She-bear, private collection, Juneau, AK, Button blanket robe, 5 ft x 6 ft, wool, buttons.

May '00 Northwest by Southwest, private collection, Portland, OR, Button blanket robe, 5 ft x 6 ft, wool & cotton fabric, buttons.

May '00 Sea Grizzley, private collection, Vancouver, BC, Chilkat robe, 5 ft x 6 ft, handspun and commercial yarns.

Mar '00 Frog Speaks, private collection, Juneau, AK, Button blanket robe, 5 ft x 6 ft, wool & cotton fabrics, abalone buttons.

Oct '98 Thunderbird Mother, Alaska Native Medical Center, Anchorage, AK, Button blanket wall mural, 5 ft x 6 ft, wool,  buttons.

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