I spent most of my life working and raising my family on the barrier islands and near the pine forests of the southeastern New Jersey shore area. As a retired elementary educator, I moved to Naples, Florida in 2015 with the dual goals of putting my professional experience to good use as an active volunteer in the field of education, and to personally work at developing my skills as an artist.

Although I majored in art education in college, art teaching jobs were scarce at the time, so I decided to concentrate on becoming a regular classroom teacher. Subsequently, my artistic pursuits were mostly limited to crafts.

After I retired in 2013, I began taking painting classes and studying with teachers who have helped me to improve as an artist in both New Jersey and Florida. I discovered the joy of soft pastels and they quickly became my favorite medium for their immediacy, wide range of colors and the ability to paint and draw with them without the use of brushes or other implements. Workshops with accomplished pastel artists have heightened my skills and influenced my approach to painting.

I love to travel and spend time outdoors. I'm inspired by both the natural and human built world around me.
Painting landscapes, seascapes and waterscapes allow me to creatively interpret my impressions and feelings
about the places I've been and the time I was there.
I truly enjoy the challenges of plein air painting both locally and when traveling, as well as working from my photos of those places in the studio. It’s been said that every picture tells a story, and I hope that mine are both lively and expressive.