The world is tough and it's fast. I was caught up in this race, too, wearing so many hats and excelling, but missing or losing an element, a common thread, maybe even myself. Growing up in a single parent home, after losing my father to service for this country at a young age, I was surrounded by the musical talent of younger brothers, each so talented to the point of genius. This was challenging for the perfectionist and insecure child I was, wanting to please and even entertain as they did, yet feeling lost, pretending to be someone else. As a child, I was encouraged in art, yet my streak of perfectionism and insecurity hindered that expression.

In the years following childhood and pursuing a bachelor’s degree from a fine art college, I nurtured and adored my family of 3 sons, was a free lance graphic artist, a mural artist, a Program Director, a speaker to large groups, a teacher, a buyer for a Fortune 500 company, along with a lot of etcetera. A whole lot of etcetera and so many hats worn! That lost thread was hidden in the weave with so many other threads, needing to be untwisted and not frayed in so many directions. After years of physical challenges (including Crohn’s disease), I’ve been learning to slow down and enjoy life and plain being. In 2014, after a diagnosis of bilateral radial neuropathy causing me to lose the use of my hands, the thought of never living my dream of painting as a career, even losing the ability to create art let alone not being able to care for myself and others, drove me to the decision to focus solely on my passion for painting. Great news — surgery to release the strangled nerves worked, and I began following my dream to paint, paint, paint, while allowing myself to pause, and to focus on the moment we are in, desiring to inspire others to experience and enjoy the essence of the beauty we are surrounded by.

It's taken a lifetime, and as a recovering perfectionist, I’ve been allowing my soul to thrive in and through art and to express the beauty of what I see through painting, while this desire grows to share that beauty that transforms, transcends and inspires.

My desire is to bring transcending beauty to uplift and warm the soul of others as it has mine through paintings inspired by and in each new day.

Carmel Valley Art Association Gallery, Featured Artist

Central Coast Art Association, Board Member (since 2015; President 2021-22)

Oil Painters of America, 2020-present

Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters (MBPAPA)