About
I was born in Illinois and grew up outside of Kansas City, Missouri. As teen-aged decision making would have it, I spent time in many different places out west. Eventually, I made a home in Lubbock where I worked as a pediatric critical care nurse and raised two horrible monsters of daughters. They’re out in the world slandering my name on social media and CBS Sunday Morning. Absolutely. Horrendous. Life is a lot of things, and for me, there is a lot of “what did I do to deserve this?”I retired from nursing five years ago and as hard as I tried, I could not retire from motherhood. My gremlin daughters moved “to somewhere greener, Tennessee” and I followed. With time on my hands and no kids to raise I’ve found myself doing a lot of self-reflecting. Once upon a time I wanted to be a painter. Once upon a time I had an art scholarship. Once upon a time I was a single mom with two kids. Once upon a time I became a nurse. Once upon a time I was awarded my doctorate in nursing. Healing and caring for people comes easy to me and having made that my life’s work was and still is important to me.
It’s never too late to return to a dream (unless you are dead, I suppose). The privilege I am afforded now, is that I am able and I get to return to my first passion and my first expression (which in case you fell asleep a few sentences ago is painting). Watercolor, acrylic, and oil are my mediums of choice, but don’t tempt me with a good time. I explore the nuance of nature, much like Ernest Shackleton— adventurously and poetically. Backlit landscapes, dramatic warmth and horses are my favorite subjects, the stars of my canvasses. Should you stare long enough, their majesty, strength and intuition may rub off on you or let you escape your own noisy brain for a while .
Okay, back to horses (a subject I never really leave). Chuwi, my appaloosa (a horse type/varietal/breed for those unfamiliar with equine) is my muse. He carries me on my retired-ass adventures and it’s on these adventures (whether I’ve slipped off the saddle and landed face to face with a weed, or we’ve navigated his nemesis, a flock of turkeys) where I find my inspiration, make discoveries and continue to reflect and grow. Like I always say “better to be green and growing than ripe and rotten.”
There are times when everything is right in the world. They don’t last long, so I paint them.
Proud to be a Member of the Following Organizations
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| Cowgirl Artists of America | The Chestnut Group | National Oil and Acrylic Painter’s Society |
