Together, my lifelike "Rattlesnake" portraits of women from Northeastern New Mexico, my "Sensoryscape" paintings celebrating our sensual world, and my realistic, luscious soft pastel "Storied" still life paintings – which use symbology to explore my observations and experiences, oftentimes in unexpected and/or humorous ways – reflect my life as a cisgender, post-menopausal woman of British and German ancestry who came late to waking up and seeing the systemic white male patriarchy in our world. 

 

To create my realistic paintings, I work in a black box studio with real subjects (limited use of reference photographs) using techniques dating back to the Renaissance, including the sight-size method (painting the same size as the object observed), a black mirror, mahl stick, plum lines, and a viewfinder. One painting takes weeks or months to complete.

 

I studied at the Masters’ Atelier of Drawing and Painting under Nancy Lucas-Williams in Port Townsend, Washington. Currently, I live in New Mexico, where my artwork has been selected for multiple juried shows around the Nation.