Print, Drawing, Shells, Seashells, Coastal Decor, Seaside Decor, Ocean, "The Old Ones"

As a child, drawing, painting and creating were as much a part of "play" as riding my bike or romping in the park. I spent hours creating my own paper dolls, complete with their own wardrobes. As a teenager I drew imaginary worlds and people, influenced by my favorite sci-fi and fantasy stories. They covered my school notebooks and binders or scraps of cherished drawing paper. I also drew my friends and family, the natural world around me, the mundane and the beautiful. My influences were observations of my daily life, my mother's small garden, my boyfriend watching television, the latest fashion that I dreamed of owning, our dog sleeping.

For the majority of my life my artwork has remained a conduit of emotions, my own and those around me transferred to form on paper, images of love, grief, joy, fear and hope. During the 1980's I focused on commissioned pieces that mirrored the emotional life and journeys of people and their relationships, the celebrations "life moments", the joys of birth, of marriage, the vibrant excitement of musicians plying their craft, the memorialization of deep loss. My works became keepsakes, celebrations, markers and reminders. During the 1990's I channeled my creative energies towards larger, acrylic works through decorative painting and murals. I created numerous large scale murals for children's rooms and nurseries utilizing original imagery drawn from classic fairytales and children's stories, again celebrating life's special moments. I created entire rooms using various decorative styles and techniques for homeowners and businesses, including: vibrant colored tropical flora and fauna; a Spanish influenced "room with a view" incorporating stucco walls and a large portal opening to the shores of coastal Spain; a wine cellar of twisting vines entwining an ancient window and the soft fields and blue skies of Tuscany; a large scale, impressionistic, triptych garden for a conservatory.

In 2012, after a long hiatus, I returned to my roots and began working on a smaller scale. I picked up my beloved pencils and pastels once again. In a world increasingly influenced and engulfed by technology, I began a series of miniature pieces influenced by medieval and renaissance artists. Using watercolor washes, pencil, colored pencil and pastels, my focus became the faces of ancient peoples, whose lives, as real and meaningful as our own, played out in a very different world. During the past year I have continued to work with pastels, graphite pencil and mixed media, once again focusing on translating the variety of human emotions and everyday life through portraits. In addition, I am working on impressionistic pieces which reflect the natural world around us, the beauty in our own backyard.