I'm a painter and photographer. The works of both reflect a personal relationship and hope to invite the viewer in closer, to offer a perspective both personal and emotional. My paintings are simple yet complex with layers of paint muted by mixing colors together and scrubbed to achieve an atmospheric look. The landscapes are not based on any real landscape but on how we may read a landscape from a distance off - the barest hint, a sense and the magic of landscape. The still lifes too are like landscapes - with portraits within them, portraits of objects that have a life of their own and their relationships with each other. My photography comes from a place that is right in front of our noses and in all our busyness we may miss. It's immediate and momentary often gone in minutes or even the time it takes me to stop my car and get out to try and capture it. All my works stem from this sense. I work in acrylic and mixed media. The paintings are on paper, wood and canvas - and all are small works, personal and intimate. The photography is digital photography and while many of the works may be digitally altered, not all are. I believe in having my hand in creating works, creating what I wish to say and feel. The delight of digital photography is that you can have the most creative darkroom right in the palm of your hand. While the paintings are often painstakingly felt through, the photographs are immediate and responded to. They all reflect the sensitivity I feel in the world and how I see it around me.

Through Art I found in everything in life I'd been looking for - the process of creating art; the history, the timelessness, and the thread that is common between all artists. I found heroes in Richard Diebenkorn, Matisse, Helen Frankenthaler, Picasso's early works. And others, Vuillard, Bonnard, Gwen John, Edward Hopper, Fairfield Porter and later Anselm Kiefer, and Joseph Cornell. And the Renaissance painters. The turning point for me was seeing the work of Morris Graves - the transcendental, the peace and depth of his work touched me to my core, and there I found the place I wanted my work to come from. Art to me is all about life and all it's twists and turns, about the moments often overlooked where there is beauty, and finding the place where we all fit in. In my photographic work, it's about everyday what we see and where the art is at arm's length. Ordinary, mundane, quirky and exquisite. It has all been a process, a long one. I began studying art when I turned 31, and found the challenge I had spent my whole life seeking. My studies began at the community college level to university and include 10 years of work including private studies with name artists. I apprenticed myself to artists in order to gain a traditional education. I've studied with some exceptional photographers and artists. Photography, I studied with film and tv studio photographers, Jerry Fitzgerald, Murray Nieditch, and Gaby Rona. Painting and Drawing studies were with artists Jane Bauman, Sandra Trepasso and Paul Donaldson. I have exhibited in galleries in North Carolina, Washington, Oregon, California and New Mexico and been accepted in regional juried competitions.