Growing up in New Britain, CT I always wanted to be an artist like my parents. When I was a girl, my father taught me how to do architectural drawing, work with pastels, and oil paints. As a young woman my mother taught me how to set up a well constructed still-life and to draw with colored pencils. She also helped me discover my love of plein air painting.
After my father passed away and now living in Keene, NH my mother was showing her work in the summer weekend outdoor art shows. She entered my artwork in the student division of the Nashua Area Art Association’s Greeley Park Art Show in Nasusha, NH. I was awarded a ribbon for a pastel study of a stargazer lily that both my Dad and I were drawing. I participated in the Keyes Art Group Community Park Show in Milford, NH in the high school division. I won an award there as well for a watercolor of Monadnock.
My major in English and minor in Anthropology has been a great asset to my art career. At Keene State College I developed my skills in critical thinking, analytics, communication, and read extensively about art history. I took art classes both on and off campus.
In my adult life living in Michigan I have done many commissioned pieces in different art mediums including a house portrait and race car piece. Moving to Lansing re-sparked my childhood love of plein air painting with my mother. I have photographed, painted, and written about the history of the river trail modeled after my father’s book Walk Around Walnut Hill.
In May of 2019 I donated 85% of my possessions to charity and got rid of in-home cable/internet to focus solely on my artwork. I have spent the last two years developing my professional skills working on a new series of iconic New England scenes. The references and tutelage for these works has come from both my mother and Aunt.
Recently I have gotten back on the internet with a new phone connection and have started an Art in the Family page. I have been making a series of videos about an artist’s life and teaching all the skills I have learned because I feel art should be accessible to everyone from appreciator, to beginner, to professional.