About

I have been drawing, painting and creating my entire life.  My Mother is an artist, my Great Grandmother was an artist. I was literally born into a creative world.  It was not surprising that I chose an Art concentration as the focus of both my higher education and my professional career.  

 I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art with concentration in Painting and Commercial Design from the University of South Alabama in 1989.  After graduation I began work as the Art Director for the Talbott Group, an advertising firm in Mobile, Alabama.  In 1992 we were blessed with our daughter, so as with any other young mother time was an issue.  I spent the next ten years working in watercolor, grabbing time to paint whenever I could.

Now that I am retired, I have returned to my first love, working in oils. I have found that my style of painting contains influences from each phase of my career.

I was fortunate to have a watercolor professor, Dr. Lee Hoffman, who was a firm believer that "your painting will only be as successful as the drawing it begins with".  So, you may find visible drawing in any of my pieces.  I also tend to use strong graphic lines and strong use of light in my compositions, a holdover from my decade as a graphic artist.  And finally, i find that I enjoy the freedom of manipulation of oil pigments, while applying them as I would watercolor, in thin washes of paint, building layers of translucent color.

It seems impossible that I have been participating in Art Festivals for five years already.  Time does actually fly when you are having fun and meeting so many wonderful people in the process.  

I have been fortunate to receive awards at many of our shows, I am honored to share some of them with you here:

Tarpon Springs Fine Art Festival- Chairman's Choice and Featured Poster Artist

Anna Maria Island Springfest- Best of Show

Art Harvest Dunedin- Award of Excellence

St Johns River Festival of the Arts- Award of Distinction

Tarpon Srings Fine Arts Festival- Award of Merit

Mayfaire-By-The-Lake/Polk Museum of Art- Award of Merit