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I was 2 when my mother awoke to my lipstick drawings on her walls. I was 8 when I had my first art class in third grade in the basement of an old public school. Mother saved forever that little drawing which was done on wet paper with white chalk: a snow scene. I was 16 when I succumbed to my mother’s pleadings to sign up for an art class in high school where I again was introduced to working wet into wet with inks and watercolors. At that time, my teacher, Helen Worral, a graduate of Cranbrook Academy of Art, presented classic teachings to me: perspective, painting, & historic artists (Michelangelo and others). The traditional watercolor approach of layering was taught to me. Although a great foundation, these teachings were later in my life hard to break! But break them I did, as I explored many mixed media venues.
Throughout those growing up years, I was repeatedly privileged to explore the icons of the “Stations of the Cross,” stained glass windows, and paintings in many Catholic churches throughout Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus areas (and beyond) of Ohio. In my parent’s home, always hung a beautiful drawing of Notre Dame. My paternal grandmother had a gorgeous very large tapestry of Daniel in the Lion’s Den, hanging above her couch in Columbus, Ohio. We yearly traveled to my maternal grandmother’s in the heart of southeastern Ohio, where I was privileged to visually soak in the beauties of that area. Most of my landscapes are in direct response to exploring hills, meadows, and wooded areas during childhood, in the southernmost regions of my home state of Ohio. Visits along the Atlantic sea coast (northern & southern) have inspired paintings of rocky cliffs, waterfalls, serene beach scenes, and lighthouses. More recently, travels to the southwestern states of Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico have given me a new direction.
