My work grows from a deep connection to the natural world—the forests, rivers, wetlands, lakes, plains, deserts, and especially the mountains—along with the rich organic life that inhabits them. I began my formal art career at age fifty, after my daughter left for college.
The journey began with botanical art and watercolor, inspired first by the classical botanical masters and later by contemporary artists from around the world. From this came a body of work devoted to flowers, leaves, shells, and other intimate studies of nature.
Over time, my focus expanded to gardens, broader landscapes, and eventually to the sky itself—the sun, moon, stars, and shifting atmospheres that shape our experience of place. I’m fascinated by the endless variety of the natural world: its mystery, beauty, and emotional resonance. Every season, weather pattern, or landscape has its own moods, sensations, and energy.
Living part-time in the city of Portland and part-time in the mountains near Trout Lake, has allowed me great opportunities to explore my art. Plein air painting—sitting quietly and letting the world come to me is the most rewarding and fun for me. It's the first perceptions of nature that create the painting and give it power. Of course, then studio work develops and refines it all.
I feel the practice of painting, outside or inside, is a portal into the profound nature of our world and ourselves. It has helped me to understand the spaces we inhabit, as well as the phenomenal world.
