I live in the Piedmont area of North Carolina, and love this beautiful and green state. We are blessed almost daily with lovely and dramatic clouds. Over the years, I have found that I am drawn to painting skies more than anything, and that pastels are the perfect medium for sky and cloud painting.

For most of my life, I created art with pencils, charcoal, pens, oils, watercolors or acrylics. When I discovered pastels, I realized this was the medium with which I wanted to work. I graduated from Michigan State University, studying textiles and art. After college, I continued my art studies with many well-known pastel artists, including workshops with Cara Reische, Will Klemm, Susan Carlin, Richard McKinley, Bob Rohm, Claudia Seymour, Liz Haywood-Sullivan, Fred Somers, Barbara Jaenicke, and Debora Stewart.

Since 1998, I have been a member of several art guilds including the North Carolina Pastel Society, the Creative Arts Society in Austin, the Austin Pastel Society, Texas Pastel Society, and was past president of the Bastrop Fine Arts Guild and the Carolina Artists Guild in Salisbury. I am currently a member of the Piedmont Pastel Society, the Campagna Society of Artists, and Crown Artists in Charlotte.

My art studio is at Clearwater Artist Studios in Concord where I teach drawing and pastel classes. I also give demos and workshops on painting skies and on the business side of art to various artist organizations.

God’s creation inspires me every day. As an artist, I think we are meant to paint what we love and that by doing so, this comes through in our work. I believe that art should draw you in and complement your life, regardless of which side of the process you find yourself, the artist or the viewer – we each need to find what strikes the chord within us.