My mother gave me my first sketch pad when I was 5 years old after watching her draw and wanting to do what she was doing.  From that moment, my journey of interpreting what I see around me began.  I was fortunate to attend public schools, where I started with casting bronze and figure drawing.  When attending college, I began painting and continued sculpting. I realized that the long process of casting metal with low creativity didn’t interest me.  This drove me to clay sculpture and later watercolor, where 90% of the time spent is being creative. 

As an avid hiker and kayaker, I started watercolor sketching 10 years ago.  I used my sketches to complete large pieces at home and soon realized that the act of creating, while in nature, was more important than the final product.  This ignited my love of Plein Air watercolor painting. I adapted my tools to be portable and can now check them on a plane, take them to the beach, hike into the desert or set up on the back of my truck.  Except for rain, I enjoy finding ways to create during wind, heat, or icy cold.  Watercolors bring together my joy of creating and my love of nature.

Early in my art journey, I discovered the wonders of clay.  While my first and short-lived exploration began with pottery, I was soon captured by sculpting with clay.  My initial pieces were figurative and as my love of all things outdoors expanded so did my clay work.  From the earth comes my medium that transforms into a reflection of the beauty around us.

While growing up, my father worked with wood.  I am a lucky woman whose father taught me his building skills.   In using new wood for my various projects, I was bothered by the amount of waste.  I challenged myself to reduce my waste by being smart in the designs and using as much recycled materials as possible.  The torn down red fence and short 2×4’s can transform into a sturdy red table. 

I am grateful for a creative inheritance and want to share it with you