I am a visual artist, primarily a painter, always fascinated by the world around and challenged by capturing light and shadow, texture and expression, mood and drama. I currently paint acrylic on canvas as a studio and plein air painter but have also worked extensively with transparent watercolor on paper and am a signature member of the Northwest Watercolor Society. I am also dedicated to capturing the nuances of human form and expression through live model drawing and painting sessions.

I grew up on the north bank of the Fraser River in Haney, British Columbia, where I remember sitting around the kitchen table with siblings and cousins over the rainy winters drawing incessantly. I studied Graphic Arts and Illustration at Douglas College where I graduated in 1980 and began painting seriously. I took a series of workshops with various artists from the Federation of Canadian Artists and became a member in 1987.

I married and traveled around the U.S., eventually settling in beautiful Whatcom County where I continued to study and paint as my children grew. In the early years of my career, I focused on watercolor on paper studying the work of Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth and Ken Danby. Wyeth’s paintings, in particular, have always deeply affected me. I started jurying in and exhibiting with the Northwest Watercolor Society winning many awards and became a Signature member in 1995.

I worked as a commercial artist while raising my children, continuing to paint and exhibit my work in area galleries. As my children grew up, I began to seek new exhibition opportunities and started with a solo show at the Depot in Anacortes in 2006. Since then, I have been involved in many group and solo exhibitions throughout Puget Sounds.

As the marketplace is changing, my work is evolving to include figurative and portrait paintings including commissions chalk and permanent painted murals and faux finishes. I also craft the wood frames to finish my canvas paintings.

Recently I have enjoyed producing a chalk mural at the Anacortes Art Festival, invited to a self-portrait exhibition with seven of my contemporaries, and continue with portrait, figurative, and landscape painting.