I have been interested in art for as long as I can remember.  At the age of 3, I remember how I loved to scribble in coloring books.  At the age of 10, I got my first oil painting set and in high school I took every art class that I could.  I was a studio major in the 1970s and switched to an art history major after I realized that the teaching of art fundamentals was not in the program agenda.  I went on to obtain a teaching credential and taught at a public elementary for 30 years.

 

I’ve always been drawn to figurative painting and have been influenced by the French Modernist painters Manet, Lautrec, Degas and Cassatt and the 20th century artists Egon Schiele, Hopper, and Wyeth.  Over the years I’ve been able to gain valuable instruction from classes and workshops with Daniel Greene, Rex Brandt, Tim Clark, George James and Fealing Lin to name just a few.  Much of what I have learned about painting has been through reading books, copying other paintings and through much trial and error.

   

I began painting in oils and acrylics, but after my first attempts at soft pastels garnered me top honors in several shows, I became hooked and spent many years mainly working in that medium.  I love the immediacy and versatility of pastels.  Later I added both watercolor and gouache to my repertoire and have been included the international show put on by Watercolor West and the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies.

   

Abuot ten years ago I took a mixed media class from Chris Sullivan and I was introduced to incorporating many of the various media and combine them.  What I love most about mixed media is its flexibility which allows me to work intuitively with minimal preplanning  It has freed up the feeling of dread I would get thinking about making the wrong decisions and ruining a piece of artwork that I’d spent a lot of time on.  While not every painting is a success, the process itself is fun.  I work with subject matter and images that have special meaning to me.  My mixed media paintings have won several top awards in local art competitions and I had a piece published in the North Light Art book titled: Incite 3, The Art of Storytelling--The Best of Mixed Media 2015 and three pieces in the 2016 book titled: Incite 4  Relax, Restore, and Renew.  In the spring of 2016 I presented a Mixed Media workshop for the Huntington Beach Art League and was voted "Artist of the Year" by their members that same year. 

 

In 2020 I had my acrylic painting, "Chosen Path" published in the Acrylic 7 magazine and in 2021 my acrylic painting "Then to Now" was published in the Acrylic Works 8 magazine. The latter was also recently awarded "Best of Show" in the Anaheim Art Association's 58th annual juried competition this year.  

 

I've recently returned to my love of pastel and was juried into the Pastel Society of America in 2021.  

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I give demos, workshops, and classes in various media and have been a juror for several art exhibitions.

 

Please have a look in my virtual galleries where you will find information about each piece you view.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.