About Me
My background
My mother said that she knew I would be an artist when I brought home a drawing of a turkey from Kindergarten. Well, she was right - but seriously, the drawing was that turkey drawing that all little kids do - trace your hand, add an eyeball dot and "gobbler" to the thumb and turn the rest of the fingers into feathers...yeah...you did one too. I went to Northwest Missouri State University and received my B.S. in ED. with a major in art in 1982. I was lucky enough to find a teaching job right away but the position was 3⁄4 time so after two years I decided to leave education - temporarily-I simply could not afford to stay. My thought was to sit out a year or two and then come back....To make a long story short, I spent the next 15 years in business and I loved it. I worked with some truly phenomenal people. But I didn’t make art. In the mid-90's a former student died while he was home on Thanksgiving break and I knew it was time to get back to the classroom. I taiught drawing and painting to high school kids for 23 years. I loved every minute and miss teaching and the kids since I retired last year. I now live in Taos, New Mexico. I am represented by Sage Fine Art on the Taos Plaza. I have taken classes with some great artists: Tony Rider, Gary Fagin and John Poon to name a few.
My experience
For years I worked in colored pencil. I love everything about it - not just the way it looks but the weight of the layers on the paper and even the smell of the colors.
About a decade ago, my best friend declared that I should paint. " Buy the biggest canvas and brushes you can and loosen up," she said. That first painting was really terrible. But, I was hooked.
I have 30 years experience in cooperate training and public education. I taught drawing and painting to high school kids and I loved it. Now I paint full time in Taos, NM.
My vision
I think artists get an idea and then they explore that idea until the idea is done with them. Then the next idea presents itself. In her book, Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert calls this being visited by genius.
I work in acrylic but I work with subject matter that is more typical of an oil painter. I thing I love most about acrylic is that I am forced to work quickly and decisively due to the quick drying time of the paint. I love great brushwork and try to describe with every mark I make on a canvas.
A couple of years ago I got a copy of Carol Marine's book, Daily Painting. I started to work with the idea of doing small quick paintings of objects. I limit my time to 2 hours of less on these small pieces.
I have used this discipline of painting small and often in my painting classes. Students have found it very helpful to study basic forms of objects in the studio and then paint those same forms in the landscape.