I believe that doing art is in my DNA. I do art because I HAVE to.

My first foray into art began when I was about 10 years of age and did “cow portraits” while spending summers on my grandparent’s farm. I lured the cows by offering them hay and then with pad and pencil in hand, captured their likenesses. Thinking that I would continue to enjoy art in college, I took a basic design class which proved to be my undoing. The 70’s were not kind to those whose bent was not contemporary or abstract art. So my talent laid dormant for a number of years while I made a living in the corporate world and raised a family. All the while, my creativity squished out in other areas like cooking, decorating, flower arranging and landscape design.

I truly believe that I have always looked at the world a little differently. I “paint” wherever I am whether I have my tools in hand, or not. In my mind’s eye, I paint a wet street with intense streaks of color as I drive on a rainy night. When standing in a crowd or waiting in line at a grocery store, I “crop” a picture of children being children. A night out at the movies becomes a critique of the cinematography. Whether driving in the city or countryside, I evaluate the light, shadow, angles, and color of the scenery. The world we live in is intriguing and beautiful to me. And I enjoy the gift I have been given of being able to interpret what I see and sharing it so others can enjoy it too! I paint what I love and am passionate about it. I become emotionally involved in each of my pieces and hope that those who view my artwork can see that.

The desire to create fine art has always been there, but it has only been in the last several years that I have been able devote time to honing my talent and skills in drawing and painting in both oils and pastels. I continue to take classes primarily through the Art Students League of Denver and consider myself extremely fortunate to have had some wonderful teachers, who in addition to teaching, have also encouraged and mentored. Teachers like Terry Ludwig, Tony Ortega, Doug Dawson, Joanne Burney and Ken Valastro have been instrumental in helping me grow as an artist.

I feel so blessed that I am finally able to follow my passion full time and do what I love and am “wired” to do…PAINT.