My Art Biography

I have been an artist for a few years now. I like to work in a variety of medium including watercolor, oil, acrylic, pastel, graphite, and inks. I regularly teach Drawing Fundamentals, believing that anyone CAN draw if given the proper tools and techniques. I enjoy teaching very much. I often watch my young grandson and wanted to find an artistic and creative outlet that I could do while he is here. We do like to scrapbook together. He does love to paint, but that takes my attention so I am not able to work much on my creations while helping him. I was already doing photography, and discovered that I could be a lot more creative with that...

My work in digital photography developed recently. I have always loved photography but the door opened when I discovered I could manipulate the photos and create abstract and/or ‘digitally drawn’ works. This intrigued me and I have not looked at a photo the same since. I take my photographs and manipulate the images until I find a pattern that I am drawn to repeat, to zoom in, and to mirror until an image is created that satisfies my search for the unique.

Growing up between the rugged Cascade Range and the northernmost tip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains I was surrounded by God’s beauty and bounty. I spent several memorable summers in the renowned artistic community of Mendocino, California. This instilled in me a fantastic love of nature, the mountains and the ocean. Seeing such beauty all around me nurtured a tremendous desire to draw and paint; to put the beauty of the moment on paper or canvas, to capture it. As education in art was not available to me, I studied and created independently, using available materials. For thirty years I put my art aside to raise a family of five children. I invested several years in theatre (my other love), and pursued a career in financial management. With my children now raised and raising families of their own, being blessed with 12 grandchildren, I have returned to art full time and loving every minute of it!