"My artistic gift is part of who I am, and pervades my life whatever I am doing. I am always observing and ready to capture a special moment. My work is realistic, but it is not my intent to exactly reproduce a scene. Painting is for allowing the viewer to see passages of light, pattern, heightened color, and edited subject matter in order to communicate a creative idea or impression."
"I began drawing on paper at age five. After years of art classes in grade school and high school, I started out with a Fine Art major in college, but graduated with a different major and a career far from art. Through the years I have taken a variety of art classes and workshops, with everything else being self taught. Steve Naegle (AWS) taught me the basic techniques of watercolor painting. My reference library of books acquired over the years continues to inspire and teach me. Joe Garcia's "Watercolor Bible" and Mark Mehaffey's color techniques have left a lasting impression on my knowledge base. As a professional artist, I have spent over twenty years painting in watercolor, acrylic, gouache, mixed media, and drawing in soft pastels. I continue to enjoy drawing in pen and ink, which was my primary focus when I majored in Art in college. After 15 years of successful painting in water media, I began working in pastels in the summer of 2013 after the WAOW National Show in Estes Park (my zebra watercolor was in that show). I purchased pastels and began a new artistic journey after watching our talented artists demonstrating a variety of media during that event. Immediate success with show entries propelled me to embrace soft pastels. The luminosity, atmospheric perspective, and speed at which I am able to show the visual qualities of the subject are keeping me absorbed with pastels. I am passionate about using these gorgeous colored "sticks" to capture animals and depict landscapes. In addition, I can paint them at any location, which allows me the freedom of moving outside my studio (plein air). Richard McKinley (PSA-MP), author of "Pastel Pointers", Stan Sperlak (PSA), and Jane Christie (PSA) have influenced my current pastel style and methods. Now at the end of 2020, I have received notification that I have earned Signature status in the Pastel Society of Colorado. Attaining Signature Membership has been my goal since I joined PSC. As it is up to the juror whether you are accepted to any show, I would like to thank the following jurors for selecting my paintings for PSC National/International shows: Albert Handell, Kim Casebeer, Tony Allain, Aline Ordman, and Barbara Jaenicke. I also want to thank the PSC Officers and Board of Directors for allowing me to serve the last two years and see the great effort required to run the largest state pastel society in America."
"I consider my drawing ability to be a precious gift. Art brings great joy to my life, whatever media I use. It has gotten me through some of life's most difficult moments. I will continue to expand my experience with new techniques and subjects, and experiment in my future work to keep it interesting."