Background Information

First Chapter: Just a Kid

Maybe I was an odd child.  Academics were easy and tests were games.  I recall gazing out Midwest classroom windows at the clouds moving in the changing sky.  Teachers' notes on my grade cards labeled me an "excellent student but a day dreamer".  

My passions during my youth were drawing and writing.  I climbed trees and sat unnoticed on branches, while writing poetry and sketching in my diary.  

    Second Chapter: College, Marriage, Motherhood

I married my hubby my senior year in college.  After my bachelors degree, there were four major detours which blessed my life beyond measure... my four children.  When my youngest was a preschooler, I recertified to teach and began teaching full time when he was in kindergarten.  Later, I earned a masters in education and certified to teach intellectually gifted children.

My young students didn't have enough time to explore art in their one hour per week lesson with the art educator.  So, I taught art to my class and to combined classes using ideas from the art curriculum and my own experiences. 

I tried to make positive contributions to my students' lives.  It was a fulfilling career of twenty-two years.  It rewarded me with lasting friendships with fellow educators, students and their parents.  

 Next Chapter: 

The world of art opened up for me when I moved to Arizona in 2010.  There I met generous, talented Jean Turner Smith.  She became my art mentor.  In Jean's open studio. everyone was more advanced in art than me.  They were welcoming, supportive, and great sources of creative inspiration.

The Milan Fine Art Institute  classes are another new adventure for me.  The owner/instructors are accomplished artists Elli and John Milan.  Their styles and approaches to art are different from my previous experiences.  Through their classes, I'm learning to use a wide variety of techniques and materials, with an emphasis on mixed media.   

Photography is another area of visual art that I finally have time explore.  I am learning a great deal through my association with the Photographers Adventure Club of Phoenix.   I also appreciate the technology that makes it possible to edit photographs and to create art from the computer as well.

I am a member of the Gilbert Visual Art League and  Arizona Art Alliance.  Two of my paintings commemorating Arizona's 100th Anniversary were displayed at the Gilbert Historical Museum. I participated in group art shows and donated art to charity events. My paintings and photography are displayed in Arizona businesses and in private collections across the United States.