“Let the beauty we LOVE be what we do.” –Rumi
From my early childhood in rural North Carolina, art has been an essential part of my life. Much of my play centered around making art and playing artist. At school, it’s not surprising that art time, when the teacher passed out 12″x18″ manila paper and crayons, was a high point of the week.
I went on to major in studio art at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC and earned credentials to teach art. I’ve worked as a K-12 art teacher, community college continuing education art instructor, special education teacher, reading specialist, and basket maker, but have always made my way back to painting.
Memories from growing up in the countryside supply a visual vocabulary that continues to influence my work. Images of tall pines, cedars and their long shadows falling across open fields, hay bales drying in the sun, quiet streams flowing through shady woodlands, and weathering barns and farm houses have all appeared in my paintings.
These days I work full-time in my home studio. In addition to painting familiar regional landscapes, coastal scenes, flowers, and native songbirds, I also find inspiration from architecture and people that I’ve photographed when traveling.
Capturing the effects of the atmosphere is as important to me as choosing the subjects of my painting. I am intrigued by patterns of light and shadow, the landscape shrouded in fog, dramatic cloud formations, and color changes that result from varying conditions or time of day. I aim to express my observations and show others the beauty that I see in the commonplace.