All About Me

Central Virginia has always been my home. I grew up with the river and mountains nearby and a love for animals, flowers, landscapes. . . all the things I love to paint. There were always plenty of animals. . . dogs, cats, horses, chickens, most anything with four legs. My sister Bonnie had a garden with beautiful flowers she nurtured. She gave me the appreciation for flowers and their beauty. Many days were spent fishing on the James River or just riding through the mountains enjoying the beauty of the land.

As a child, I was always able to do pencil drawings. My dad, who was an 'unknown' artist, introduced me to charcoal and bought my first set of pastels for Christmas in 1968. I still have all the drawings and pastels done as a child. In fact, I still have pieces of my original pastels.

Life interrupted my joy of art from 1972 until 1996, the year I began painting with watercolors. I found painting with watercolors to be such a beautiful way to express the beauty of all the things around me. It has the ability to capture the smallest of details along with the darkest shadows and brightest of lights.

Painting from photographs enables me to achieve accurate detail. The light and shadows in a photograph never change as they would if I were set up outside trying to paint a scene. Having photographs allows me to visually see my subject and focus on it at different times during the day or night.

I live in the mountains of Amherst County, Virginia with mountain views all around. My fur-kids are a dog (a Snoodle) named Harper, and a British Shorthair cat named Loki. . .who are my constant companions while I paint in the studio. When not painting, I love to take time to drive the backroads of Virginia looking for subjects to photograph for future paintings.

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