About me & my work
All set up to paint on Little Sugar Lake.
If you're like me, you love to surround yourself with beauty and nature.
You have (or aspire to have) a beautiful home and love to be around things that bring happiness and joy to your life.
You love animals, travel, being outdoors, and taking time to experience the change of the seasons.
You love beautiful things, and enjoy being around creative people.
You may not know a lot about art, but you know what makes you blissfully happy.
You're curious to see how the world looks through another person's eyes . . .
Sketching in Spain.
I think art helps us see the world in a new way.
I believe that artists are born with a gift to see the beauty of this earth. That beauty is so breathtaking that we are driven to create and share our visions.
Making art excites me in so many ways. Can I create what I see in my mind's eye? Can I amplify the energy that I feel in this painting?
For me, the most exiting part of painting is the creation process. As a painting comes to life, as it takes form, you start to feel its amazing energy. I love waking up in the morning to see what I painted the day before. What does it look like with fresh eyes? Is it good or not? If not, can I save it?
I love the consistency, color, smell of oil paints, and how the brushes the feel against the canvas. I love watching the warm and cool colors come to life, and how they create such incredible illusions.
A painting is a living thing to me.
My Story
I was born in the north central part of the United States, in the state of Minnesota. I attended the University of Minnesota, Mankato, with a major in Art and a minor in Business.
My love of horses took me to Bedfordshire, England, to study with the British Horse Society and receive my Instructor's certificate. For two years in England I rode and lived at the Park Equestrian Center in Wing, hunted with the Warden Chase Fox Hunt, competed in the jumper show and cross country events. After returning to the United States I rode and showed horses both in the western and the hunter jumper circuits.
I had career in real estate until 2003, when I made the decision to follow my true passion and create art full time.
Today, I find I am most interested in the human figure and portraiture. This world is always giving me so much to beauty to inspirer me to paint, that I'm never at a loss for ideas.
Working at my home studio in Medina, MN.
The woods outside my Northern Studio.
I'm blessed with two beautiful places to create my art.
At my home in Medina, Minnesota, I have a beautiful second level vaulted studio looking out in to the woods.
My Northern Studio is a boat house with two glass siding doors that overlook Little Sugar Lake in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
The beauty and peace of nature surround me at both of my studios.
My Curriculum Vitae
Painting in the garden.
I am a member of:
- Oil Painters of America
- Portrait Society of America
- American Woman Artists
- American Impressionist Society
- Outdoor Painters of Minnesota
- The Daily Painters
- California Plein Air Painters
My work can be found in the corporate collections of:
Thrivent Financial, Minneapolis
Blandin Paper Company, Grand Rapids
Solo Exhibition
2012 Mac Rostie Art Center, Grand Rapids
Two Artist Exhibition
2010 Mac Rostie Art Center, Grand Rapids
Group Exhibitions
2016 MacRostie Gallery Juried Show
2016 Arts in Harmony National Juried Show
2016 Minnetonka Center for the Arts Members’ Salon
2016 Minnetonka Center for the Arts Garden Show
2016 Minnetonka Center for the Arts Menagerie Animals in Art
2015 Minnesota State Fair Juried Show
2014 6” Square Exhibition and Sale, Randy Higbee Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA
2013 Minnesota State Fair
2013 MacRostie Gallery Juried Show
2013 Savage Juried Art Show
2012 Minnesota River Arts Fair Paint Out
2012 Savage Juried Art Show
2012 Arts in Harmony National Juried Show
2012 Outdoor Painters of Minnesota Plein Air Show
2011 Fall Watercolor Show, Edina, MN
2011 5th Annual Savage Juried Art Competition & Show
2011 Minnetonka Center for the Arts Members' Salon
2011 Richeson 75 Small Works Juried Show, WI
2010 American Impressionist Society, Inc 11th Annual Juried Exhibition, Nashville, TN
2010 Minnesota State Fair Juried Show
2010 Minnetonka Center for the Arts Biennial Exhibit
2010 Minnetonka Center for the Arts Juried Show
2010 Arts in Harmony Juried Traveling Show
2010 Arts in Harmony National Juried Show
2010 Oil Painters of Minnesota, Savage Art Gallery
2010 Jaques Art Center Annual Nature Juried Exhibition
2010 Grand Marais Art Colony Plein Air Competition
2009 Grand Marais Art Colony Plein Air Competition
2009 Mac Rostie Juried Show
2009 Minnesota State Fair Juried Show
2009 Minnetonka Center for the Arts Juried Show
2009 North Country Views Juried Show, Jaques Art Center
2009 Minnesota River Plein Air Competition, Oil Painters of Minnesota
2008 Grand Marais Art Colony Plein Air Competition
2008 Minnesota State Fair Juried Show
2008 Minnetonka Center for the Arts Juried Show
2007 Minnetonka Center for the Arts Juried Show
2007 Plein Air Painters of MN Juried Show, Minnetonka Center for the Arts
Awards, Honors
2016 2nd Place, MacRostie Gallery Juried Show
2016 Honorable Mention, Arts in Harmony Juried Show 2016
2016 Award of Merit, Minnetonka Center for the Arts Juried Members Show
2013 1st Place Oils, Savage Juried Art Show
2012 3rd Place, Minnesota River Arts, The Landings Paint Out
2011 Award of Merit, Minnesota Fall Watercolor Show
2010 Best of Show, Annual Nature Juried Exhibition, Jaques Art Center
2010 2nd Place, Annual Nature Juried Exhibition, Jaques Art Center
2009 2nd Place, Mac Rostie Art Center Juried Show
2009 1st Place, North Country Views, Jaques Art Center
2009 Peoples Choice Award, North Country Views, Jaques Art Center
2008 1st Place Nocturnal, Plein Air Juried Competition, Jaques Art Center
2008 1st Place, Plein Air Juried Competition, Jaques Art Center
Publications
2013 Minnesota Women’s Press cover art and artist article
2011 The Richardson 75 International Small Works
2010 Literacyhead Publications (May)
2008 Color, Obsession, Joy and Torment, the daily painters art gallery
2008 The Richardson 75 Figure/Portrait
2007 The Richardson 75 Landscape
Education & Professional Affiliations
Minnetonka Center for the Arts
University of Minnesota/Mankato, Fine Arts Major
Studied with Daniel Gerhartz, Rose Frantzen, Sherry McGraw, David Leffell, Nancy Guzik, C W Mundy, Carol Marine, Jove Wang, Carolyn Anderson, Huihan Liu (Tibet), Kim English, Peggy Kroll Roberts, Fred Sommers, Marc Hanson, Greg Lipelt, and Reid Galey