Hello & Welcome
My passion is to create intimate paintings transporting you to another time and place ...to convey visual beauty with intrigue and depth. With my use of color, design, multiple layers and texture, I want to stir your senses and invite you to stop for a moment and allow your head and heart to go beyond the boundaries of the frame. Art reflects life, hence I love to juxtapose contrasts in my work - smooth verus rough, organic versus geometric, cool versus warm colors, etc. - to show that they can co-exist; in fact they can inspire each other.
Through my art, I want to inspire and enhance lives by bringing beauty, memories and serenity to your home and work environments..
Oils are my preferred medium, though I also work in pastels. I use a palette knife and the brush; going back and forth during the entire process. Oils facilitate my exploration of color. Much like a musician, I choose a particular 'color chord' to convey harmony and unity throughout; this adds another interesting dimension as I play with contrasts. Here is a brief color story: In kindergarten I was asked to state my favorite two colors. I said, "Red and orange." When I got home my mother said I was very upset because the teacher had told me that red & orange did not go together. Even then I knew they were analogous colors (next to each other on the color wheel)!
An Artist's Story:
At age 36, I unlocked the artistic vault that I had kept sealed for over 15 years. It was 1987 and I traded my blue suits of corporate life in for an artist's smock shortly after my late mother-in-law introduced me to watercolors. The Twin Cities (MN) offered fine art education through their network of art centers, and I attended the Minneapolis College of Art & Design and workshops instructed by nationally known artists. The regional watercolor society captured my heart, hence I served as President of the Minnesota Watercolor Society (1992-94). In 2004, I founded & curated the Celebrate 22 Miles! exhibition held at The Edina Art Center; this exhibit commemorated the significance of the Minnehaha Creek that runs through the Twin Cities.
My work has been honored with awards in regional & national shows, and hangs in countries around the world. The large body of work I created entitled, "No Time for Idle Hands," traveled the west & mid-west. My hand portraits were the cover story of Watercolor, a national arts magazine. I am honored to be a signature member of the Transparent Watercolor Society of America, and granted (through juried processes) the associate memberships of the Pastel Society of America and the Oil Painters of America. In February, 2010, I won the Finalist - Best Abstract in the Fine Art Views Painting Competition.
Below is a photograph of my Black Forest, CO, studio as featured in Art Calendar, March, 2007. You are welcome to visit! Call 719-510-0006 (MTD) for an appointment.
Thank you for stopping by!
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