Artist Statement

I grew up in the deep south, to be specific Charleston, South Carolina, and that upbringing is the primary force in my artwork today.  The ephemerality of its’ beauty is a constant thread across my work.

Even as a child the margins of my school notebooks were filled with sketches of horses and flowers I knew. I continued drawing and painting in tempera and water color through high school and college.

After a rewarding career in veterinary medicine took me away from art making, in 2014 I returned to art in earnest.

Today I enjoy painting in oil exclusively. My work is representational with loose strokes which are sometimes thick and also occasionally transparent. My thick strokes capture my emotions and the more transparent when connecting with the delicacy of the fragile flower petals.

The flowers and landscapes of the deep south are my primary subject. Magnolias and camellias evoke visual, olfactory and emotional memories of my youth. I recall the towering magnolia tree in my father’s garden that perfumed the air of the back yard the beautiful camellia blooms that my mother frequently wore pinned at her shoulder.

I also paint the brilliance and glory of sunrises and sunsets.  I am in awe of the rich vibrant colors that herald the beginning and end of the day.  The mere fact that the suns’ momentary angle on the ascent and descent combines with the atmosphere if the moment can produce such a powerful display of color is fascinating and I am inspired to capture that moment.

The fleeting nature of the suns’ colorful display, like that of the flower, remind me of the temporal quality of beauty and life.

Bio

I grew up in the deep south, specifically, Charleston South Carolina.  I was drawing as long as I can remember and spent many summers in art classes at the local art gallery.  My true passion was horses and there are sketches of horses in all of my school text and notebooks.  I was in drawing and painting classes throughout high school. I received a BA at Erskine College in Due West South Carolina and went on to receive my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine  degree from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine.

I moved to Maryland in 1977 to practice in the heart of horse country. I built a successful veterinary practice in Germantown Maryland which I sold in 1998.  Following that sale I had more freedom to raise our daughter as well as pursue professional horsemanship.  I then developed Seneca Sport Horses LLC which included breeding, training, rehabilitation, horse sales and riding instruction.  It was then that I realized the value of some of the adjunctive therapeutic modalities for the athletic horse and I went on to The Colorado State University School of Veterinary School to receive my certification in veterinary acupuncture which I continue to practice.

I came back to art in 2013 when an injury curtailed working with horses and I took an introduction to drawing course at Montgomery College.  It was then that I realized that the art I  wanted to create required  many more skills.  After I took a color theory course I knew I wanted to pursue painting.  My first painting class was an introduction to painting at The Compass Atelier taught by Tom Semmes.  I continued taking classes then with Glen Kessler, the founder of the Compass Atelier.  I enrolled in the Compass Atelier  3 year Master Artists Program in 2017  taught by Glen Kessler and will graduate in March of 2020.

Resume

Education

Graduated from the Master Artist Program, The Compass Atelier, 2020

Studied under Duane Keiser, The Compass Atelier, 2019

Studied under Steven Assael, The Compass Atelier, 2019

Studied under Alyssa Monks, The Compass Atelier, 2018

‘Painting Through the Lens,’ Glen Kessler, The Compass Atelier, 2016-2017

‘Introduction to Painting,’ Tom Semmes, The Compass Atelier, 2015

Montgomery College 2013, 2014

Exhibitions

‘Solo Exhibition,‘ Signal Financial Federal Credit Union, Washington DC, 2019

‘JFK’ Show, Tryst Gallery, Leesburg VA, 2019

‘MCO’ Show, Tryst Gallery, Leesburg VA, 2018

‘Lavender Fields Forever,’ Artists and Makers II, Rockville MD, 2018

Montgomery Art Association 2017