Red Pears, Oil Painting

About the Artist:

My paintings are representational and involve places, things, and people from my personal experiences. I work in oils, pastels, transparent watercolors and gouache and determine the medium which best conveys the mood I want to impart to each painting. I choose the softness of pastel, the strong visible brushwork of oils, or the crispness of watercolor and gouache to determine which will give the look I want to convey to the viewer. I am careful to retain freshness and clarity of form no matter which choice is used. I relish the varying effects that occur in different media and never tire of the available range of materials.

My career was in art education and I daily worked in many media while working with my students and could smoothly move from one to the other as each day progressed. I find the same ease in moving from one to the other in my own work.

I am a North Carolina native with a BFA and M Ed from the art department of UNC-Greensboro. I have continued my education with classes and workshops given by artists whose work I admire. I taught for many years in Charlotte and afterwards spent several years living and painting in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I moved to Tucson, Arizona in 2003 where I focused on plein air painting. In 2006 I moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Southwest has been an inspiration for me and its scenery continues to be a subject of many of my plein air and studio paintings. I also enjoy painting still life and figurative work. I travel around the world on a regular basis and find that these experiences fuel my desire to expand my subject matter for my paintings to go with the richness that my local area provides.

Since returning to the USA in 2003 I have exhibited my paintings in over 70 solo and group art shows in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, North Carolina, and Mexico and have won several awards. I am affiliated with the Tucson Plein Air Painters Society (juried artist member), Plein Air Painters New Mexico, New Mexico Watercolor Society (signature member), Rio Grande Art Association, Artists 'Round Town, and the Pastel Society of New Mexico.