About Me

I remember my first experience with painting with oils back in the early 1970s. It was autumn and warm and, like most everything we did back then, I painted outside. I remember the smell of the paint and the frustration of not being able to make it do what I wanted it to! Painting felt so familiar to me, even then, but it was the brush cleaning that sealed the deal for me. It was a ritual I still love and is my link to hundreds of years of artists in its simplicity and connection to our tools.

Over time, I did get better at making the paint do what I wanted it to. Like all artists, this required many hours at the canvas and eventually, learning to “see”.

I made the switch to acrylics in 1994 after my second child was born and life got a little faster. I learned my acrylic skills on walls and canvases and eventually began teaching in acrylics in my late 30s. I was hooked! Teaching gave me the opportunity to help others to “see” and to open up to a part of them that was dormant. So many of my clients and students are very much a part of my tribe and continue to be my friends today. I have painting to thank for that!

I am often prompted to teach crafts and new and diverse art techniques and, while the suggestions are well intended, I am not finished with my first love of painting and all its magic. I do combine paint with brushes, mixed media, decoupage and pieces from other modalities, but it is always grounded in paint.

I am lucky really, as I am already doing what others retire to do. As long as I can hold a brush, you will find me in front of a canvas!