Born and raised in Upstate New York, I always had an interest in art as a child. I learned to sketch faces in a college art class, and loved to draw my nieces and nephews. I did not do much painting until I moved to Las Vegas 5 years ago and became inspired by the scenery of the area and regional Southwest art that I found in different places. Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire were of particular interest to me: surrounded by rich color and ancient petroglyphs, I felt the peace of nature and thought about the expression of art even before humans had pencils. Road trips to...more