I have been interested in art for as long as I can remember. My parents were very supportive and supplied me with plenty of crayons, pencils, paper, and paints. I was exposed to books about art and artists and became familiar with famous works. In high school I took every art class available, and experimented with techniques in painting, drawing, ceramics, and jewelry-making. I won a few school and county fair awards during those years.

In my senior year, I worked at an advertising agency as assistant to the art director. His name was Roy, and his list of artistic accomplishments is long. I followed closely his every move and learned much. I loved his drawing technique, and to this day I consider myself lucky to have had such a talented artist as mentor and teacher.

I moved to Oregon and went on to college, but finances and life forced me to put off my education. I worked at various jobs throughout the years, and for a time as a commercial artist and sign painter. Finally, in 1998 I was able to return to school. I graduated in 2001 with an Associate of Arts degree in humanities. I completed courses in Basic Design, Ceramics, Watercolor, and History of Western Art.

My art comes from within, but it is the result of a variety of life experiences and outside influences. The colorful people I meet, the sights and sounds of nature, the emotions that swirl around me -- all of these things are sifted through my being, to be reborn later on the canvases I create.

Painting and selling my art is for the most part my full-time job since Dec. 2001, or more accurately my "full-time life". I live in Southern Oregon, love my husband and my pets, and live for the moment. :-)

Member of EBSQ since November 2001, and also a member of EBSQ Juried.