"My art reflects my faith in imagination and intuition, and my passion for exploring and communicating the profound beauty of our world and the human experience. Through painting, my ideas and visions become tangible, providing a language to encourage, share, inspire, and uplift. Each painting evolves as if it were a conversation between old friends… sometimes lighthearted and joyful, sometimes contentious or troubling…but always a candid reflection of the unique moments in which it was created."
My art reflects my faith in imagination and intuition, and my passion for
exploring and communicating the profound beauty of our world and the
human experience. Through painting, my ideas and visions become tangible,
providing a language to encourage, share, inspire, and uplift. Each painting
evolves as if it were a conversation between old friends… sometimes
lighthearted and joyful, sometimes contentious or troubling. As a result,
every painting is as individual as the moment in which it was created.
Although I was born to artist parents and showed some early interest in
drawing and painting, I did not give in to the urge to paint seriously until the
mid-1980s. I graduated from the University of Montana in 1975 with a
degree in Natural Resource Management, a reflection of the love of the
outdoors that I learned from my father at an early age. In 1976, a job with
the Forest Service took me from Montana to Boise, Idaho and eventually led
to a job with IBM. In 1985, I married my husband Al, and moved to
Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was there that I began to paint, with
tremendous teaching and support from some remarkable artists, and I
quickly began showing and selling my work. In 1991, Al and I moved to
Colorado. After 17 very educational years, I left IBM in 1997 to devote my
time to my art. Today I live and work outside Estes Park, Colorado where
my studio is surrounded by thousands of acres of National Forest. From my
windows I can see amazing sunrises, and watch beavers and ducks going
about their day on the lake below. It’s a good life, and I am truly grateful to
be living it this way.
About the Process
My paintings begin as a series of loose glazes of color. As shapes and
impressions emerge, successive layers of transparent and opaque paint are
applied to develop and enhance the structure, design, and impact of the
piece. These layers produce an infinite variety of hues and effects which
cannot be achieved solely by mixing color on the palette. The interplay of
contrast, movement, texture, balance, shape, line and color creates images
that draw the viewer into the creative process, inviting them to see not just
with the eye, but also with the heart. Inspiring the viewer to respond to the
images I have created is a critical part of bringing each painting to life.