About the Artist

The Story

Growing up, I loved art class, but never really got into painting. The acrylic paint always seemed to dry too quick or became muddy when I would use it. I had given up on it by age 8 or so.

To be honest, fine art was never in my line of sight. Becoming a professional artist seemed like a faraway dream, with a likeness to Hollywood. Art schools were hard to get into in the 90's and early 2000's and I just didn't think I had what it took.

Skilled trade seemed like the next best option. I apprenticed to become an upholsterer. This led to aircraft upholstery and owning a company with my husband, who I still work with today.

We were blessed with two beautiful children and mom boss life quickly took over. When the children became teenagers, I needed an outlet. (LOL)

One day I was watching reels on Facebook and came across a painter oil painting a beautiful landscape. I was enraptured! I bought a cheap set of oil paint started playing around.

There is a buttery texture with oils that I love. The colors mix with a decadence that acrylics never achieved. IT JUST CLICKED. I realized that I just fell in love for life.

Collaborative Creation between me and Florida

My interest lies in local sceneries, both big and small. Nature, wildlife, and portraits are where it's at.

I feel like in this busy world, sometimes we forget what beauty is all around us. Even when we live in paradise!

As a native Floridian, I like to expand from the typical beach scenes and show some of the other lovely aspects of Florida. Light has a lot to do with this. I love the playing of luminance that can be captured via oil paints. It captures the attention and the heart in a way that colors can only enhance the ambience to. The Sunshine State is filled with this essence.

Color theory has always been a low-key obsession for me, even in upholstered interiors. I love to relay color in a way that flows and is realistic to eye. We see colors mostly in relation to each other, and capturing the essence of the colors is like a passionate tango between complementary colors. I like to take it a step further with considerations of the sun's light spectrum, between yellow and violet.

For landscapes, I do a plein air color study of a given scene. I also take photographs of different angles within the scene and take them back to the studio for reference. From there I can create multiple paintings.

For portraits, I like to take photographs of the subject under different lighting and with different poses. I then edit the photos to relay the features in a desired way. Then the painting commences!