I was born and raised in Rapid City, where I still reside. I come from a large family with 10 siblings. I am the youngest girl, with four older sisters and six brothers. My husband Pat and I have four children ranging in age from 31 to 15 years old. We are almost empty nesters with one left at home.
I spent many years doing commercial and residential faux painting and hand texturing. That business was a great way to express my creative side and has also been a strong influence in the way I paint today frequently loading my paintings with texture.
In 2007, I was at a party visiting with a very talented local artist named Richard DuBois. He mentioned that he taught watercolor classes to a group and invited me to join. I figured why not!? I went to the class and slowly learned how to paint with watercolor. I painted with the group for eight wonderful years until Richard passed away. I didn’t realize what a gift that time in my life was until I didn’t have it anymore. Richard is a constant influence in my paintings as I can still hear his voice guiding me through the process. I am very thankful for the lifelong friendships I have made within the Dick’s Chick’s group. I continue to take classes from artists I admire because there is always more to learn.
Now that all of my children are older, I have more time than ever before to paint. I am having so much fun! You will find that my paintings are a reflection of my mood. Sometimes colorful and bold, and other times dark with rich messy texture. I love to paint large pieces, flooding my paintings with unexpected colors to add and element of abstraction. When I paint I am not thinking about an end result, instead focusing on the freeing feeling of letting the paint fly. My subject matter varies as I love to paint animals, juicy landscapes and very loose portraits.
I have been participating in the NPWS show since 2011 and am a Signature member.
