About me

Drawing and painting were my first love, and I can’t remember a time when I’ve not had the urge to create. Being shy when young, art provided the perfect voice for expression. After high school, I started classes toward a career as an art teacher, wanting to pass on my love of the arts to others. But, family responsibilities meant setting aside my dreams until much later. I worked in high pressure jobs that drained my energy and stifled my imagination. Now, I’m back in the swing of things and watch me go! I’m drawing and painting again, and the excitement and joy of creation has returned. I look forward to establishing a career in art, participating in art shows, and creating an online presence to introduce myself and market my artwork.

Pastels are my favorite medium. I’m drawn to their vibrant colors and how versatile they are for texture and realism, and love how I can immerse myself in the process. There’s a part of me included in each of my drawings, fingerprints and all. I also enjoy using pencil, chalk and colored pencil for drawing and painting.

Growing up on a farm in Galesburg, MI, landscapes, barns, animals and nature were a part of my childhood and continue to be my inspiration. There’s also a side of me that loves toys and stuffed animals. Their silliness brings smiles, and I enjoy creating pictures for children.

My family was artistically talented. My grandmother and aunt did cross-stich, Mom and my aunt sewed, my sister enjoys drawing, and both of my great grandfathers worked with wood. My daughter-in-law is an artist and fashions paintings using individual wool fibers, an art form called wool painting. She inspired me to follow my dreams and return to creating artwork.

While working full time in the hotel industry for 10 years, attending college, and raising a child as a then single parent, in 1986 I earned a BA in art, from Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, MI. Soon after, I started work at WMU, primarily in the College of Education, and retired from the university 30 years later, in 2015.

Lon, my wonderful husband, is an author and writes science-fiction and poetry. We moved from Kalamazoo to Jersey City in 2021 and live near our awesome son, Jay, his artist wife, Oksana, and our sweetie granddaughter, Sofia. Life is good.