About the Artist

As a small child I loved to read and to imagine.  I did paint by number kits and put together plastic models of all sorts of things. I loved people and animals.  My father and I would watch storm clouds from the porch and imagine what or who they looked like.  I lived in Gary, Indiana, which, at the time was a busy steel town bursting with activity and prosperity.  The lakefront was close and offered the opportunity for many lazy days by the water and hikes through the dunes.

In high school I had an art teacher who encouraged me and challenged me to draw more and to draw using different medium.  I was asked if I would enter a couple of pieces of my art into a scholarship contest.  So...being an obedient young woman...I entered 2 portraits: one in pastel and one in conte crayon.  The conte crayon portrait, "Adoration," one first place!  $500 in 1962 was a LOT of money.  Crazy!!!  So when I enrolled at the University of Denver, I listed my minors as Art and Psychology.

The challenge to draw and paint and use different media continued during my college years.  I found myself loving my art classes and my art teachers.  I even loved the art history classes especially the History of Architecture.  Well, college ended in 1966 and I returned to Gary, Indiana, to help care for my father who was dying of Cancer.  Gary had gone into decline with the steel mills closing and it was a very dark time in my life.  There was no drawing and no painting.  My father died in 1968 and I married in 1969.  The marriage was ended in 1976 and I returned to Gary, Indiana with my infant son.  There had been no painting or drawing.  I remarried in 1981 and moved to Chicago where I worked as a school counselor, a licensed clinical professional counselor and an educational consultant.  Still no painting or drawing but several attempts.

My son (Eric) and a dear friend (Gail Costello) knew that I had loved to draw and paint.  They bugged me and challenged me until in 2017, after retiring, I joined an oil painting class in the neighborhood.  I loved it...and I could do it!  Later I found Ann Ponce.  I enrolled in her studio class and, under her guidance and gentle support, began to paint and draw again.  

I find painting and drawing an escape from everything around me.  I get totally immersed in the work of creating with any medium.  But, I find that I only paint things that speak to me.  People and animals in situations that tell a story become subjects of my art.  The dogs in my portfolio are not just dogs....they are friends...they are members of my friends families.  I never, ever, thought I could paint an animal but I think it worked out pretty well.  The landscapes evoke a memory.  The portraits are people being themselves in situations that show their spirit and emotion..."Time Out" shows a little boy who is in deep trouble...I hope you can sense his unhappiness.

It is my hope that those who visit my site will enjoy my work.   My challenge is to share the pleasure or the emotion that called me to the subject through painting.  Thank you for taking the time to browse.