I was a kid that didn’t like to color.

Oh, I wanted that box of 64 crayons with the sharpener. But that was all about being cool, and had nothing to do with creative options. I liked rules and right answers. And the simple act of coloring a picture was overwhelming for me and my complete discomfort with creativity.

My first creative outlet didn’t manifest until I was 43, when I discovered photography. Later, in early 2020, at age 57, drowning in the sudden responsibilities of caring for a mother with Alzheimer’s, I could not breathe for the need to make something. Something beyond the photography I enjoyed. Creating art with paint and paper was a way to get my head above water; to find buoyancy. To gather my experiences and stories and allow them to continue, possibly long after I’m gone. I wanted to wander among each one, documenting some, in case they flew away someday, to join all my mother’s memories that had deserted her. My life landscapes up to that point of rural Illinois, Wyoming, and Utah provided varied backdrops for my stories.

At a dead run, I began the journey of learning about art and artists. A process, I quickly realized, that has no end. You simply walk your path, picking up a skill here, some inspiration there…and a daily art practice is born.

2023 brought a move from Northern Utah to Northwest Arkansas, where my practice continues in my home studio. I use acrylic paints, paper, wood panels, metal, canvas, and my own hand-painted collage papers to create nature-inspired mixed media work and journals. Some work begins with a specific idea. Other work is created as shapes start to form and I recognize the memory that my hands want to talk about today. But all work has a story.

Always feel free to email me regarding work for sale, commissions, or to discuss a connection you’re feeling with my art. It would be lovely to hear from you.