ARTIST'S STATEMENT:

I can remember having an awareness of beauty and art from a young age. My grandmother Ida was an artistically inclined ceramicist who had an early influence on me. Working with wood cut block printing and etching in high school led me toward an education at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh where I graduated in 1971, trained in Commercial Art Applications. I worked in the commercial art field until staying home with my two small children became my most important priority, but I've always been an art hobbyist.

I have found my best expression using oils on canvas. My oil painting style has probably been most influenced by the writings of David Leffet, an oil painting instructor from the Art Student's League of New York. The slow, step by step, evolution of an oil painting allows me to more clearly display the feelings I want to show on the subject matter. I tap my inspiration from nature to ignite my artistic spark as I work from an inventory of photographs I have taken for this purpose. Subject matter has been varied.

My goal in every painting is to impress the viewer with the concept I'm trying to convey about the subject. My challenge is to convey that concept dramatically and intensely to the viewer. A clear concept in composition is the foundation of all my work. It may be expressed by shapes, value, edges and color in varied combination. Starting with a concept poses both a problem and a solution for a painting. In 'Light on Taffeta' the concept was to convey the glistening flow of light on the lustrous coats of the mare and colt. These massive, majestic Belgian horses were intriguing and after two photo sessions I was able to gather enough reference material for a series of paintings.

I also paint landscapes and still life. Trompe L'oeil, or 'to fool the eye', painting on walls is something I enjoy doing also. It's like original wall paper. As my work evolves I tend to incorporate strong abstract design. I have been a guest artist for "Salt and Pepper Mime" New Ensemble Actors Theatre in the Erie School District.

I like stretching my own canvases in my studio in our home in rural Harborcreek where I live with my husband, two sons and our yellow lab 'Ochre'.

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