Why does someone decide they are an artist and how does one convince others of the truth of that assumption?
Artist, Juror, and Instructor
SDWS, NWWS, IWS
My earliest recollections involved seeing, interpreting and sharing the elements of life around me. I was blessed to be born on a beautiful northern Idaho farm where, as an only child, nature and solitude distilled my observations. Common sights, mysteriously layered to create balance, were a wonder to me then.
Today, I am compelled to produce and offer unique visual testimony, ranging from fairly realistic representations to more abstract renditions of light, form and natural phenomena.
Yes, I have always been an Artist!
After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree with Painting Emphasis from the University of Idaho, I also earned a secondary teaching certificate from Boise State University. For 25 years, my husband, Gary, and I operated our grain farm along the Washington/Idaho border where we raised our family. Meanwhile, I taught oil and watercolor painting through the Washington State Community College Continuing Education Program and the Corbin Art Center for Spokane City Parks and Recreation as well as for various other entities and art societies. I continued to burn the midnight oil, painting and entering juried exhibitions.
We relocated to San Diego, California, a treasure trove of visual inspiration and artistic cooperation. Along the way, I have been fortunate to benefit greatly from my affiliations with a number of watercolor societies, serving as President of the Spokane Watercolor Society, Workshop Director for the Idaho Watercolor Society, and, finally, President, First Vice President and Past President Advisor of the San Diego Watercolor Society. Through these all volunteer non-profit organizations, I met many wonderful instructors who mentored me and shared the methods and techniques to achieve my artistic goals. I have earned Signature Memberships through repeated juried selection for International Exhibitions in the San Diego Watercolor Society, the Northwest Watercolor Society, and the Idaho Watercolor Society. I am also a juried member of Watercolor West and have been included in the American Watercolor Society Exhibition.