Bio
My love of the land started as a child as I wandered the fields of my grandfather's farm in West Virginia. By the time I was 13, I was painting those scenes in oil. I majored in Fine Art at Murray State University with an emphasis in painting and graphic design. After 14 years at the Herald-Leader as a graphic designer, I left in 2001 to pursue my dream of being a full-time artist.
My love of pastels began in 1983 when I wanted to sketch outdoors using strong and expressive color. Pastel is pure pigment that can create brilliant colors. I take the local color of the scene and enhance it to produce an emotional response to the place. I use actual places that I have been to create a feeling of reality, hoping to capture in pastel the feeling that attracted me to the scene. Lately, I’ve been exploring the feeling of light and shadow as it falls across the scene and describes the rhythm of the land.