"Growing up in a creative family, I always had the freedom to experiment, make a mess, and generally putter around and entertain myself. Although not an artist by trade, my father was a gifted sketcher and used to draw cartoons for our family as entertainment. My sister and I shared this interest and talent, and from the time I was very young, I remember feeling that it was " the ultimate" to have blank paper and fresh crayons- or maybe a set of Prang watercolors, the semi-moist kind in the oval pans. We usually had a pad of paper for notes and grocery lists, and I would draw on that, blank shirt cardboard, and even the blank fly-leafs of the volumes on the family bookshelves (only to be discovered - and admitted- decades later!)

I find in my art a sense of self that makes me feel unique. I look for subjects that are beautiful, vivid, and realistic, yet sometimes a bit bizarre or thought- provoking in that realism. I enjoy looking at a common scene or subject and probing more deeply to see it at an uncommon angle or from an arresting point of view. Dramatic contrasts of values also appeal to me, and I can get lost in that joy of carefully applying my colors and seeing something literally burst forth from that paper in a startling three-dimensionality, realism with a twist.

Teaching workshops throughout the country has added a new dimension to my art. The elementary school educator in me still enjoys seeing that dawn of comprehension and enthusiasm when demonstrating or sharing a drawing concept. On another level, I learn from and with my students, delightful groups of people from all walks of life. Patience is well-rewarded with the satisfaction - and yes, fun- of beholding that developing art, both for them and for me."