As an artist I see my life as a journey. Like Kafka’s “The Castle,” there are many switch-backs and yet each step leads to the ultimate goal – honing the skills that produce works of art. The challenge is to interpret what I see and bring both beauty and meaning to each canvas. Richard Diebenkorn said we put paint on and scrape it off over and over, endlessly working at our craft. A blank canvas becomes the source of excitement and anticipation, not fear. It may become the catalyst for research or trips to outlying farms and rural areas. It may lead us to visit our local library, or talk to other artists or visit museums and galleries. Where we find inspiration is nearly infinite. In the end, the canvas becomes what a blank page is to a writer: the embodiment of an idea that is unique to each artist. Before discovering oil painting, I spent many years working in watercolor and acrylic . Along with my water media studies, I spent several years studying drawing and sketching with teacher from university programs in San Diego. I also took classes and workshops at the San Diego Watercolor Society and the Atheneum in La Jolla, California.
When I moved to Colorado in 2007, I became aware of the rich art world centered on oil painting. I searched for and soon found a teacher with whom to study. The Art Student’s League of Denver had one master teacher, Mark Daily -- one of Denver’s most noted figure and landscape painters – who agreed to accept me as a student and soon became my mentor.
While studying with Daily, I began looking for subjects that would draw me to the easel outside of class and Irecalled what I’d been taught in a university writing class: write what you know and love. It was thus my love offoreign films and foreign film stars that became the catalyst for some of my early work. I took that samephilosophy into other areas of interest and consequently have built up a portfolio of florals, landscapes, portraitsand still lifes. In addition, I spent nearly a year studying 19th century masters, among them Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas and Henri Fantin Latour. I currently have eleven master copies in my collection.
1998- 2004 San Diego Watercolor Society Awards: Official acceptance into International Show Two Juror’s Commendations Second Place Three Honorable Mentions Group shows and exhibitions with art associations by award or membership La Jolla Art Association, Group Show San Diego Watercolor Society 2005 - current Arvada Artist Guild award: 2010 Best of Show, Art and Framing, Stapleton - solo exhibits, 2009, 2012 Artful Things, Tennyson St., Denver –solo exhibits, 2010, 2011 Mainstreet Fine Arts, Evergreen, CO – solo exhibit, 2012 Art Students League of Denver --group show, 2011, 2012 Art Students League of Denver - yearly summer art markets, 2012, 2013 Donna Mae’s showroom, Denver, CO. – solo exhibit, 2011, 2013 Ted Schultz Architecture Gallery- group show, The Group of Us, 2013
My paintings are included in many private collections throughout the U. S. including: La Jolla, CA., Rancho Santa Fe, CA, San Diego, CA, Tucson, AZ, Denver, CO, Boulder, CO, Boston, MA, Salem, OR and Portland, OR.
Currently represented by Art and Frame in Stapleton, CO, http://www.artandframingstapleton.com/