Artist's Biography

I am a native Californian whose interest in art began in elementary school and continued throughout high school and college. I graduated as an art major from Scripps College, Claremont, CA. Millard Sheets was both my advisor and teacher.

In the early nineties I was able to give art my full focus. My medium is transparent watercolor. I have had the opportunity to work with many talented watercolorists, including Cheng Khee Chee, Lian Quan Zhen, Karen Frey, Jane Hofstetter, Arne Westerman, Don Andrews, and Alex Powers. I am a signature member of both Watercolor West and the California Watercolor Association. In California my work won several awards, including a "Best of Show", both at the Palm Springs Desert Museum and at the Pleasanton Art League, Pleasanton, CA. My painting, "White Eggplant", is in the permanent collection of the Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA.

Knoxville has been my residence since April 2005. I belong to the Oak Ridge Art Center, Tennessee Art Association, Arts and Culture Alliance, Tennessee Watercolor Society, and the Art Market Gallery.

My work has won recognition and awards at the Oak Ridge Art Center (2005, 2006), Fountain City Art Center (2006, 2007), Tennessee Art Association (2005, 2006), and the Art and Culture Alliance (2006).

In 2007 my work was accepted in the Missouri Watercolor Society 7th Annual Open Show, the Georgia Watercolor Society XXVIII National Exhibition, and the Kentucky Watercolor Society 30th Aqueous National Show.

Artist's Statement

Most of my paintings are realistic. Subject matter varies. I look for dramatic light patterns, good values, and exciting color. I usually work from photographs, or portions of photographs, that I have composed. I do a full-scale sketch on newsprint to refine the composition. Then I transfer the composition to 300 pound Fabriano watercolor paper and lay in an under painting. After this preliminary work I develop the values and the color. This is a process of many adjustments. The greatest excitement comes with the initial concept. The greatest pleasure comes when values and strong light meld to form the painting I visualized.