Artist Statement

I have always loved to paint and draw. I earned a degree from Florida International University in Communications and Art. I enjoyed creating art for an Ad Agency, but after having a couple of kids and adopting a couple more, plus owning a horse and dog breeding farm, I hung up my paintbrush. After 20+ years and divine intervention, I rediscovered my paintbrush while recuperating from hip replacement surgery. I instantly found my happy place again. My love for art and creating it comes from my Faith and knowing that God has given me a great talent that I love sharing with the world. I love painting and photographing wildlife of any kind, large and small. My favorite medium right now is pastels. I discovered pastels while taking a weekend workshop with my art mentor, Lesley Harrison, in Montana. I adore the richness and realism I can achieve with this medium. Every summer, I get the privilege of being with my daughter in the Pacific Northwest, where she's a Naturalist on a whale-watching boat. We both share a passion for marine mammals, and I am an avid photographer and continually add to my 'to be painted’ folder.

I have loved wildlife and animals my entire life. I grew up on an island near Miami and was surrounded by marine life. This put a passion in my heart for all things wild. From the horses drawn all over my notebooks in school to the endless photographs in my ‘to be painted folder,’ animals are usually what I love to paint.

Our family story is a bit unusual. We have a bit of a “Blindside” family. Long story short, my husband and I always wanted to have 4 kids, but after 2 difficult births we decided 2 was fine. Our hearts longed to adopt a toddler, but God had a different plan. When our kids were 16 and 18, we both felt like God was telling us to adopt two African American brothers that went to our kids’ school who lived at a foster home run by our church, they were 15 and 17. We didn’t know them, and they didn’t know us. But after a lot of prayer we adopted them and they moved in with us in 2010. It has been a bit bumpy sometimes, but they are now both graduated college and are married to amazing women, and BOTH have babies on the way in 2023! I’m a happy Grandma! Then during our youngest sons’ senior year of high school, we hosted a Chinese exchange student, who has since adopted us! He lived with us during the Pandemic and got his Master Degree in Business and works in Detroit for Engineering Solutions Co. So now we have 5 amazing kids!