About Me
Hi!
I'm so happy you have decided to join my art journey!
Sign up for my private email list and read my blog where I will be talking about my inspirations and processes, new art releases with first dibs for my private email subscribers, exhibitions and events, discounts, and anything else art related.
My primary work is in Expressionist/Surrealist oil & pastel painting, with some acrylics using themes of looking for the unseen, sense of experience while exploring forgotten or overlooked subjects. Sustainable, wearable art is another project I have in the works.
I have had 4 solo exhibitions so far, and participated in numerous juried and nonjuried group exhibitions, including recent virtual exhibitions and collabs with amazing women artists.
My most recent project is being a #1 international bestselling co-author of a book collaboration about creativity titled "The Creative Lifebook 2: Radical Self-Love" released on Aug. 16, 2023. The paperback and hardcover editions are now available on Amazon and can be purchased here. Proceeds go to help Maui wildfire victims. The Creative Lifebook series is published by IlluminateOurWorld.com (Jess Hughes Media).
*A limited number of commissions are open for 2024. I am also available on a limited basis for speaking engagements and content writing projects.
I am originally from York, PA and Seaside Heights, NJ, depending on the time of year. Growing up on the boardwalk, the constantly changing vastness of the ocean gave me a deep appreciation for nature and climate. It was there that as a child I met a pastel portraitist, Rhoda Shapiro, who gave me my first art lessons continuing into my teen years. My love of pastels has continued since. Later specializing in oil painting and art history, I earned my BA in Studio Art/Art History at the University of Pittsburgh, PA in 1986, just when the steel mills were closing. The richness of ethnic diversity, the amazing resilience of the city residents, the brick 'n glam contrasts of the old and new architecture, made a lasting impression on me. As jobs were almost nonexistent at the time, I left Pittsburgh in 1987. Seeing how far the city had revived itself, I convinced my family to move back in 2006. This is where I feel most at home.
Current member of the Pittsburgh Pastel Artists League and the Art Queens Society.