I grew up in Charleston, SC, unaware as a child that I was surrounded by beauty. Well, except when the azaleas bloomed—who can mistake that—or when I walked along The Battery—or saw the marshes turn green in spring—or rode down a road lined with oaks and Spanish moss dripping from the branches. As I've gotten older, I realize it is a blessing to live in a beautiful place.
When I was a senior in high school my AP history teacher showed my class a 16th century portrait and asked us what the painting told us about that time and people. It told me more than I could ever read. It, for me, was an experience with an unknown woman from long ago and far away. It was the first time I realized how profound and transcendental art could be. In college, I emphasized art history in my humanities studies. I received a BA in 1983, and then a MA in 1986, from Brigham Young University. Since then I have had the opportunity to travel the world (my husband is in the US Army) and see first-hand many great works of art. Each time I look at a beautiful piece, I marvel that it has the power to communicate to me through line and color created in another time and another place.
After my first child left home in 2004, I decided to take up painting and see if I could put paint on canvas and make something worth looking at. I continued to dabble at painting when I had time, but now that I have just sent my last child off to college, I’ve set up a studio in my basement, and it is my vocation.
Currently, I am living in Leavenworth, KS, where I think it is beautiful.
