As a young girl, I used to draw spiders. Everywhere and on everything.
At 10 years old, I wanted to be a starving artist.
Things changed a bit after art school, like getting a 9 to 5 job and finding a spot in the corporate world. I never really stopped creating, but didn’t have an outlet for it.
I took portrait, pastel and oil painting classes. I gave some of my portraits to the models who asked for them. My husband built me a studio…I think more to move my stuff OUT of the house since I wasn’t doing anything serious with my art. My studio quickly became a storage building for anything that didn’t fit in our small house. It would not be an art studio for a few more years.
In 2007, a year after my dad passed away, I was looking for a katydid photo online. The katydid symbolizes my dad in the way he taught me the love of nature, the love of being silent and taking it all in…the love of everything, even if it isn’t “traditionally” pretty. By accident, I came across a colored pencil forum that instantly mesmerized me. A few months later, I joined a local art gallery.
Since then, I’ve continued my effort as a serious artist while working full time and raising children. I’m always looking at life as if it were a still life, portrait, landscape, etc worth painting. I love the details in life, the light that shines on something and the shadows that are created.
EDUCATION
B.A. in Fine Art, Meredith College | 1998 | Raleigh NC
B.A. in History, Meredith College | 1998 | Raleigh NC
AWARDS & JURIED SHOWS
Swish | Pastel | 2014 Annual NC Statewide Juried Pastel Exhibition | 2014
Woolly Malamute and Alpine Goat | Pastel | 2013 NC Statewide Juried Pastel Exhibition | 2013
Violet | Colored Pencil | 11th International Fine Arts Show | American Juried Art Salon | 2010 | Plano Texas
Portrait of Wayne Lehto, Sr. | Pen and Ink (Stippling) | 1st Place – In Honor | 1991 | North Ridge Portrait Competition | Raleigh NC
Golden Key Award | 1991 | Durham NC
EXHIBITIONS
Harrison’s | 2014 | Burlington NC
Festifall | 2012 | Chapel Hill NC
Benjamin Winery | 2012 | Saxapahaw NC
Saxapahaw Artists “Summer in America” | 2011 | Saxapahaw NC
Royal Bean | 2010 | Raleigh NC
Tyler D Studios | 2009 | Burlington NC
Art & Soul Studios “Aloha” | 2009 | Mebane NC
Art & Soul Studios “Together Again” | 2009 | Mebane NC
Churton Street Realty | 2009 | Hillsborough NC
Benjamin Winery | 2009 | Saxapahaw NC
Art & Soul Studios | 2008 | Mebane NC
Mebane Public Library | 2008 | Mebane NC
Art & Soul Studios | 2007 | Mebane NC
Meredith College | 1998 | Raleigh NC
GALLERIES
Fine and Folk Art Carolina | 2014-current | Mebane NC
NC Crafts Gallery | 2012 | Carrboro NC
Saxapahaw Artists | 2011-2012 | Saxapahaw NC
Art & Soul Studios | 2007-2009 | Mebane NC
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Mebane NC Chapel Hill NC
Tryon NC Durham NC
Raleigh NC Benson NC
Hartford CT Bozeman MT
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
CPSA Membership, the Colored Pencil Society of America: http://www.cpsa.org
CPSA District Chapter 114: http://cpsadc114.org
Orange County Artists Guild, NC: http://www.orangecountyartistsguild.com (2013-2014)
Alamance Artisans, NC: http://www.alamanceartisans.com
Visual Artist Exchange, Raleigh NC: http://www.vae.org
