I've wanted to be an artist ever since my mother gave me LIFE--that is, LIFE magazine, March 1, 1968. Georgia O'Keefe was on the cover and I had never seen a woman or art like that before. My world in the Mid-Atlantic United States in the '60s was green and lush with a mom in every house who wore a pretty dress. Here was a very different option, a whole other world.
Other influential artists include Georgia's friend Arthur Dove, as well as Edward Hopper and Mary Fedden. My work is not the fragility of watercolor, but immediate with substantive color. My father was an amateur photographer--probably the genesis of the LIFE magazine subscription which came faithfully to the mailbox--so early on I saw no need for replication, but for interaction: subject and my response.
I began studying with a local artist a year later when I was 11, and I stayed with her for several years. I learned early on that, in contrast to the "express yourself" ideology that pervades so much artwork today (and that results in a lot of work stored in their attics!), I very much enjoy making artworks by request--and I have done a lot of them, primarily by word-of-mouth.
I recently ran into a member of a family for whom I had painted his grandmother's upstate New York home (from a black and white photograph), a gift commissioned by his father for his mom in 1973! He said that the home he remembered playing at was long gone, but that the painting was hanging in a prominent spot at his mother's assisted care residence, that she so loved to see her childhood home portrayed, and that it drew comments all the time from visitors. That gave me so much joy to hear!
Besides places remembered, other commissioned works have included vintage vehicles, vacation homes, particular hobby still lifes, or just a favorite type of land or seascape. I'm happy to collaborate with you to create your heart's desire.
"Not All Who Wander Are Lost", 12x24 oil on stretched canvas. Private collection.