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I have been drawing all my life in one form or another. Faces seemed to fascinate me, and I would often sit in class and draw teachers or other students who sat close by. In my early 20's, while living in Brussels, Belgium, I had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe, taking advantage of that time to absorb the culture and arts from every angle.
 I returned to the United States and my job as a writer with the Federal Government, and when a friend suggested we take a pottery class together, I was
"hooked." I spent 20 years making functional pottery, and I sketched landscapes and birds on many of my pots that were sold in galleries and art shows. After an early retirement from the government, I had the opportunity to work in a gallery, learning the ins and outs of picture framing. I was very interested in conservation framing of textiles, and completed several large projects, including flags and quilts of historic value, for private collectors and for the Old Guard Museum in Fort Myer, Virginia.
It was during this time that I developed a love of watercolors, and I started painting. A friend urged me to take a class with her at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia, and I was again
"hooked." I took classes and workshops and used every opportunity to study with some of the best teachers in the country. I learned not only from my teachers but from fellow students. For the past few years I have studied with Steve Fleming
(steveflemingartist.com) and with Skip Lawrence
(skiplawrence.com), two gifted painters and noted instructors. They both have greatly influenced the direction I have taken. I am very grateful to both of them for their continuing support and patience.
I work part-time for Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission, where I have the privilege of handling and caring for permanently injured birds
of prey, from tiny screech owls to large hawks. They each have an individual personality, and I try to capture their “characters” in my paintings. It is a wonderful experience to be so close to these marvelous birds, and I portray my impressions of them, always as if they were free of their injuries in the wild.
I have been honored with awards for my representational and abstract paintings, and my work appears in galleries and juried shows. My paintings hang in private collections in the United States, Germany and Italy. I serve on the Board of Directors of the Baltimore Watercolor Society, am a juried member of the Potomac Valley Watercolorists, a member of the Art League at the Torpedo Factory, and I am a founding member of the CalvART Gallery in Prince Frederick, Maryland.
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