DEBRA PORCH

It was in the mild, northern winter of 1981 that I first met Debra Porch at San Diego State University. I’d arrived in January to teach the spring semester in the enamel studio of the university’s art department. Debra had completed her Master of Arts there a few years earlier (in drawing and printmaking) and had remained friends with several students, including Christina who was the lab assistant in the workshop where I spent that semester.

At the time Debra was living in Los Angeles (LA) and working at First Impressions, an all-women workshop led by Georgia Bragg producing limited edition prints for artists. Late that summer Debra took me to a Bruce Springsteen concert at the LA Sports Arena, to Dudley Moore playing Gershwin at the Hollywood Bowl, and to a support party for Gore Vidal (who was