About the Artist
Like many artists my love of art started in childhood. I have an Associates degree in Accounting from John Tyler Community College. Work and raising my family occupied my life, but my heart dreamed of making art. I used creative outlets like gardening, ceramics, and needlepoint murals to express myself. As my sons grew, I finally was able to pursue decorative painting classes. I felt my soul relax and knew I had to learn all I could. This led to over 9 years of decorative, mural and faux painting.
In midlife I taught myself watercolor skills in order to become a contract colorist for a major art print company. Since 2000 I have worked doing hand colored antique reproduction engravings. All the while I strived to self educate myself in drawing techniques with an emphasis on portraits in my free time. This led me to a discovery of colored pencil as a media in 2005. Falling in love with the control, detail, and realism that can be achieved, I feel I have truly found my medium. I have attended multiple workshops from several leading colored pencil artists around the U.S.
Striving for a painterly appearance, techniques of layering the pencils and the translucent brilliant results keep me craving more. I use various tools borrowed from the experience gained from my other media to enhance what can be done with colored pencil. Using 20-25 layers of color to saturate each colored pencil painting, can be a time consuming media. I strive not only for detail but for a balance with stylistic representation.
Pulling from the beauty in my own back yard, my goal is to provide the oasis we all need in our hectic lives. I find the drama of the extreme lighting in late afternoon is the most intriguing component of my paintings. The luminescent color of the light through the blossom strikes me with the passion to capture it in my paintings.
