I fell in love with art in the first grade when my grandparents purchased a paint-by-numbers kit for my birthday. I was amazed at how you could put together random shapes of random colors and create beautiful images of actual things. 

Art was always my favorite class in school – but after school, life got in the way (or at least I let it get in the way). I moved to Winter Park, Colorado, worked in banking, management and other left-brain jobs. While this allowed me to raise and support two wonderful (and artistic) children, I always knew I wanted to create art for a living. 

In Winter Park, I was fortunate to meet the amazing Quang Ho, who worked at the National Sports Center for the Disabled, creating illustrations for posters and donating his work for silent auctions. Quang is my favorite living artist and continues to inspire me through his work. 

In 1996, while my kids were still young, I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to manage a Japanese health spa. It was a great opportunity to be surrounded by and learn from some of the world’s finest artists, including the magical McCreery Jordan, who taught me about values, edges, saturation and so much more. McCreery recommended Alla Prima by Richard Schmidt, a book that changed how I approach my art and that gave me permission to "break rules" in painting. My passion for portraiture was developed under the instruction of world-class portrait artist Tony Ryder at Andreeva Portrait Academy, where I learned about Representational Art and how to accurately portray my subject. 

As it did for many of us, the pandemic changed my outlook on how I live my life and in 2020, I decided that it's finally time to practice art full time. My hope is that you see the subject matter as I do and my love and appreciation for animals and Northern New Mexico comes through in my work. I also secretly hope you purchase my original art, your grandchild inherits it and someday in the future brings it to Antiques Roadshow - where it's considered an "extraordinary find"!