Memberships:

  • Oil Painters of America
  • Associated Artists of Pittsburgh
  • Pittsburgh Society of Artists
  • South Hills Art League
  • Upper St. Clair League for the Arts

Education:

  • West Virginia University
  • Studied with Robert Daley and Elizabeth Robbins
  • Workshops with David Leffel, Robert Johnson, James Sulkowski, Phil Salvato, Jeff Legg, Laura Robb, Shanna Kunz
Art has always been an important part of my life. When looking back on the drawings and art projects that I brought home from elementary school, I can see that I always felt the need to express myself with art. It has taken many forms through out the years, from painting classes, to designing decorative painted items that I sold, to painting murals, and now my oil painting.  I paint exclusively in oil, savoring the rich buttery feel of the paint on my brush, the texture of the canvas, even the smell of the paint.

I am drawn to the still life by the way the light falls on ordinary objects, illuminating them to draw the viewer into the painting.  My still life paintings begin long before I even enter my studio. I have collected many interesting pieces that find their way into my paintings. More recently I have been trying to use ordinary objects such as take out containers and chopsticks, coffee cups, or fast food wrappings in a symbolic way or with a humorous twist. These “trash to treasure” paintings relate to our fast paced, throw away society, finding beauty in the ordinary. I arrange the light so it falls on the objects with interesting shadows, lost and found edges. In my painting I am trying to capture the subtle nuances of light and color in the still life.

My landscapes are usually painted plein air, or on location. Beauty is all around us and we just have to look.