My History as an Artist:
My patient propensity to spend long, enjoyable hours on art projects in grade school led my parents to send me to art classes after school and eventually hire an adult artist to tutor me privately at the age of eleven. My foundational training from ages 11-18 yrs was primarily in pencil, charcoal, pastels and acrylic.
From there, I went on to earn dual art degrees from Arizona State University: a Bachelor of Fine Art in Painting, and a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art with an emphasis in Sculpture (1995). At the university, I branched out into three-dimensional art – working primarily in stone, metals (bronze, aluminum, steel, & copper), concrete, wax, clay and plaster. But always, my true passion remained with painting. And it was in college that I absolutely fell in love with oil painting, in particular.
After graduating from ASU, I joined The Phoenix Art Group (PAG) in Phoenix, Arizona. From 1996-2003, I worked with the PAG painting & designing under internationally collected & incorportated artist names. While working with the PAG, I created paintings that sold around the world. My work under those incorporated artist names has been made into posters and prints which provided affordable artwork for design & furniture stores like Ethan Allen, Rob & Stucky, Z gallery, Bombay Company, Linens ‘n Things, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target and Joanne’s.
Paintings for places or people of notoriety while with the PAG: I created four 8 x 11 ft paintings of New York City bridges for a New York City Hilton, painted a small portrait for one of the palaces of the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, created artwork for the penthouse suite at Caesar’s Palace, and designed many original works for countless Spring and Fall shows for the home interiors Highpoint show in Highpoint, North Carolin, as well as the PAG gallery in Phoenix, AZ.
In 2003, I left the PAG and began my career as an independent artist. I began taking private commissions, which included many landscape paintings, as well as still-life and portraiture (primarily horses & people).
From 2009-2021, I focused primarily on homeschooling & raising my children (my greatest masterpieces!!) while occasionally taking private commissions.
In 2021, it was finally time to pick up my brush again. With a dozen years of bottled-up inspiration, I was ecstatic to be back at my easel!! By 2022, I became prominently featured at NV Studio Gallery in downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In November of 2023, I had my first show booth at the 42nd Artist of the Plains Show – a 3 day show in the ballrooms at the downtown Sioux Falls Hilton Hotel. At that show, I was awarded “Best of Show!” In December, I was also awarded a micro grant from Sioux Falls Arts Council to build a new 8 ft. wall easel.
In July of 2024, I was awarded a South Dakota Arts Council Career Development Grant, which helped to fund the purchase of supplies for my large-scale paintings in my current Solo Exhibit “Dazzling Dakota,” which spans 3 galleries and 2 hallways at Center for Western Studies (CWS) on Augustana University Campus is Sioux Falls, SD. At my Artist Reception on January 17th , we enjoyed a record attendance of 150 people! My upcoming event is my Live Painting Demo, at CWS in the galleries, on Thursday, March 27th 6-8PM. My “Dazzling Dakota” solo exhibition runs through April 25th, 2025.
I’m beginning to plan my next show and can hardly wait to see what direction the Lord leads me! If you’d like to see what’s fresh off my easel and learn about upcoming shows & events, I have a monthly newsletter called “Fresh Paint.” Submit your email below to sign up. I would love to stay connected with you!
Snowfire
Oil on Canvas 30" x 60" x 1.5" (AVAILABLE)
