COLOR IS INTOXICATING TO ME!!
My first creative endeavors were sewing with gorgeous colored fabrics. I designed and sewed my daughter's and my clothes with a good degree of succrss.
In his retirement, I watched my father draw and paint. A great desire began to emerge in me. I wanted to use color in a new way - I wanted to paint. I believed I couldn't draw. In the quiet of my home, after the children had gone to school and my husband was at work, I tried - using an art book and some pastels - to create a painting. With the strong support of my husbsand I subseqwuently took lessons to learn the basics. When I was comfortable with my brushes and paints I went to a well known flower painter in California. The world of flowers and color opened in a whole new way! A way that was so exciting to me that it brought back the memories of when I was a child and much to my mother's chagrin used to pick flowers in other people's gardens. Now I paint my own and I've never looked back.

Over the years I've tried using my colors in neatly every medium (including watercolor and pastels) but I always return to the richness of oils. My style has changed some in 40 years. I paint in a more relaxed way now, but I have confidence and command over my medium. My partons and friends tell me they can SMELL the flowers in my bright and bold paintings.

As a founding member of an artist's co-operative here in the mountains of Western North Carolina, when I'm not painting for our gallery I teach others my passion for color. www.landofwaterfallsartgallery.com