b a c k g r o u n d
As a child, my earliest dream was to be an artist. With encouragement from my mother, I began formal art classes at age 11, studying under Pittsburgh's legendary art teacher, Joseph Fitzpatrick, whose list of famous students include Andy Warhol. Four years later, I was awarded a scholarship to Carnegie-Mellon University’s fine arts program for high school students.
Over the years, I’ve taken many classes and workshops, and sometimes attend an open studio where I draw the figure from a live model. I consider myself a lifetime student of art with my primary focus being to draw and paint what's authentically me.
After being diagnosed with a chronic illness in the 1990’s and being forced to leave my job, it was my passion for drawing and painting the human figure that gave me hope and a new life. Today, my husband and I are both artists and have studios in our home in Roswell, Georgia.
a r t i s t s t a t e m e n t
Fashion and design inspire me. I grew up in the city. My mother was an artist, a fashion illustrator and a seamstress. She made all of our clothes, even coats and hats. Today, I design my own creations, using the language of color, line and composition. I love taking one of my fashion illustrations and elevating it to a large scale, fine art painting. Sketchbooks of figure drawings are everywhere in my home and studio and I make an effort to sketch every day.
I paint with modeling paste, gel mediums, acrylics and oil paint using spatulas, brushes and palette knives. My works on paper are evidence of my love of line drawing, pen, and ink
Each painting is a part of me, expressing what I'm feeling at the time. It's inspired by fashion, but in the end it's more about capturing an emotion in an abstract way.
