.bio

Gwen was born in Alexandria, Virginia, a while back, the youngest of two for the first ten years, when she unexpectedly became a middle child. Her mother was a civil rights activist; her father was the scientist who pioneered night vision technology for the U.S. Army.

Gwen studied ballet for many years at the Washington School of Ballet. Her efforts were marked by a stunning lack of progress, but she did heed one important lesson, from her strict but fair ballet instructor, the redoubtable Mr. Buckner "Do it, and do it with alacrity." In fact, the only athletic honor of any sort that Gwen ever won was first place in the intermediate division of an equestrian competition at Roundabout Riding Camp when she was twelve, but all props for that award should probably go to Big Dipper, a seventeen hand bay gelding, with a long, lazy lope.

After attending Thomas Jefferson High, Gwen enrolled at the University of Virginia and graduated with honors from the College of Arts and Sciences with a B.A. in philosophy. She then attended the University of Virginia School of Law, obtaining her J.D. During law school, she clerked for the Dade County Attorney's Office in Miami, researching the issue of the emergency powers of the executive branch during an insurrection, always a timely topic, but particularly so that summer. Gwen also completed an internship at the Central Intelligence Agency, where she edited daily reports concerning the first war in Afghanistan, the one the Soviets lost. "There is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes)

Immediately after law school, Gwen headed for Amish country, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where she clerked at the Court of Common Pleas. After a year, Gwen moved to Los Angeles for the precise opposite experience. She is now a partner at Knapp, Petersen & Clarke, and lives with her husband and law partner in a historic property in the Mt. Washington area where she has her studio. For more information on Gwen's artwork, please visit the gallery.