Having no formal art training in painting other than typical grade school and high school art classes, l am a self taught artist and have been drawing since early childhood.

Through-out school, I entered and won every art contest offered, having three of my paintings published. In my senior year, I won first place in the state of Tennessee in the nationwide "My America" Bicentennial contest and went to the nationals in Philadelphia, Penn.

The following year, I attended Kansas City Art Institute on an art scholarship, majoring in photography, which is a tool I continue to utilize as I grow and photograph many of the plant material in my paintings.

My art was moved to a back burner, however while I raised my family and returned to college, graduating with a degree in nursing. We moved to a farm in the rolling hills of beautiful Bedford county where we indulged in our passion for horses, and where I finally had the room to express myself in gardening (another passion), acquiring a large collection of Japanese maples, conifers of every size, shape, and color, various hollies, oaks, magnolias, and of course flowers for my paintings.

Two of my paintings were published by 'Image Conscious', a publisher from California. I have also shown in numerous galleries in this area, winning several awards along the way.

Now that my children are grown, I divide my time between painting, work and gardening. My painting style is 'realistic', and I usually work in acrylics, but my choice is oils if I have the time to spend.  Recently, I have done several portraits for clients, not only of their children, but also their homes, pets, and their horses.

I find endless inspiration in the natural setting of this area, and hope to convey the beautiful world we live in through my art.  I feel that every artist work is different and individual, and I want to create art that lifts the spirit and enriches our lives.