Bio

Art is a way for each of us to share our passions, feelings, visions, and view of the world in our own unique way. People and their stories, told in their faces, hands, mannerisms, clothes, and actions, have always fascinated me. So too does the abundance of human expression all around us - from dancers, to kids at the park, to street musicians, athletes, and even folks on the subway or plowing a field. It is these stories that I love to capture in paint. Fascination with our human relationship to the natural world has also been with me since I was a young girl. Some of my work today explores this theme. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are a part of the Earth and are inextricably bound to it. My artistic career had its humble beginnings with the relationship of humans to nature - I created my own illustrated nature and conservation books by age 8. My first self-published book met with rave reviews in my third grade class - its subject was how we humans could impact the earth less and leave a lighter footprint. Of course that was the 70s and my audience was a bunch of 8 year olds so I had a fairly good chance of success! At the encouragement of a family friend who noted my artistic leanings, after high school I attended The American Academy of Art in Chicago, at that time one of the few schools in the US still teaching a classical approach to art. During my time there I studied still life, portraiture, and the human figure. In my current work, I seek to integrate this earlier, classical study with a more contemporary, somewhat looser style. After art school, I had a fear of starving so I went back to University and obtained a Bachelor's degree in Geology. But all along, I still painted. I finally achieved one of my interim goals of being a "pro" painter after studying under Matt Smith, Ralph Oberg, Dan Young, and Scott Mattlin. In the last few years, I have returned to portraying the human figure and portraits - both of them interesting subject matter and valuable storytelling at the same time. I also love animals - their shapes, colors, sounds, habits, and especially "goofiness" entrance me. While they seem disparate subject matter, I my view they are not. We humans are very dependent on, and bound to, the natural world. I visualize our interdependency like the twisting strands of DNA - each side on parallel courses, but intertwined and joined together along the way. So I am exploring and integrating these two areas simultaneously. My work has been shown in Salon International (2007), Oil Painters of America National Exhibition (2006), Arts for the Parks, and many other national and regional juried shows. Collectors include residents from across the US, Canada, and Europe. I am a member of Oil Painters of America. My work is also featured in the book 100 Ways to Paint Your Favorite Subject, by the editors of International Artist magazine.

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