BIOGRAPHY
I have always loved to create even as a young child. My mom and dad encouraged me and my sisters to create. We always had art supplies to experiment with and explore. During the summers my parents would send us to my grandmother who had a beautiful farm in Pennsylvania. It was there that I developed a deep love for nature and the outdoors. I was and am still inspired by God's grand design in nature. He is the greatest artist, and I aspire to be like Him.
My father was a civil engineering drafter, and he taught me how draft when I was in high school. I worked for his company each summer while in high school and college. I loved to draw and drafting was the perfect preparation for developing my drawing skills. The experience of working with my dad and the love of art that my parents instilled in me led me to choose art history as my major in college. I studied Art history at Virginia Tech and Wichita State. After college I worked as a civil engineering drafter for five years. I decided to go back to college a number of years later and earned a bachelor of theology from Life Christian University. I was hired at the school my children were attending as a high school guidance counselor and art teacher. I am retired now.
I began painting when I was trying to create the mist I was seeing on the mountains during a trip to Boone, North Carolina. I was a fabric artist at the time and was inspired by Californian and Alaskan fabric landscape artists. I had the opportunity to travel to Alaska, and not only be inspired by the beautiful scenery, but also see what other fabric artists were creating. In the process of thinking about depicting the mist on the mountains, I tried oil painting and fell in love with the medium. I was working at that time as a high school art teacher and I wanted my students to understand the chemistry and history of oil painting. I began to explore the medium for myself and it gave me the opportunity to create the magnificent scenes of nature that I saw on my way to work everyday. I drove on country roads each day to school, and I would stop and take pictures of the amazing sunrises and sunsets. God is the most amazing artist.
I am primarily a landscape artist. For me, landscapes are a tactile and emotional experience as I remember the beauty of a scene in a specific moment of time. I use colors and textures to express my feelings about the scene. I love the experimental process of oil painting, and art in general. Art is an endless opportunity for creativity and experimentation.
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