I grew up in Tuscaloosa and Montgomery, Alabama. Drawing and nature were my earliest passions. Subjects of choice were people, animals, landscapes and architecture. My first art work to receive wide recognition was pencil portraits of all my second grade classmates for a school wide exhibition.

In college and graduate school I studied biology, languages and then history, later returning to art and eventually concentration on painting. My art and academic training were at Sophie Newcomb College and Tulane Graduate School in New Orleans (BA zoology, MA history, BFA ceramics); the Goethe Institute in Murnau, Germany (German language); Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany (1 year medicine); University of Alabama Graduate School, Tuscaloosa, AL (painting); and Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, IA (MA painting, 2000).

I work mostly in oils but also enjoy watercolor, gouache, pencil, and pen/ink. My subjects are generally landscapes, portraits, flowers and other natural things. I'm drawn to reflections and to patterns created by extreme light. Some of my work, describing inner visions, appears more abstract. My work, for the most part, celebrates my experience of the beauty and mystery of life.

The process of painting or drawing is a great source of joy for me. It's a learning and a spiritual experience-- my "research". I translate what I see into a language of paint or line. The process reveals truths to me about the subject, about myself, about life in general. It gives me energy and a feeling of fulfillment, not unlike that from meditation. I hope the work transmits some of the wonder and realizations that I experience during the creative process.

Over the years my work has been in innumerable group and solo shows, mostly in the Southeast and Iowa and has received many awards. My paintings, drawings and ceramics are in collections throughout the United States and in Germany.