About Me

I began my pastel journey in the summer of 2017. My favorite studio is the outdoors, specifically in my backyard where I have over the years planted large perennial gardens. I adore the early morning light illuminating my summer garden as well as a misty fog casting a mysterious veil on a winter’s day.

I am attracted to bright and brilliant colors which I lay over a watercolor under painting. In addition to landscapes I am exploring other subjects such as still life, pet portraits and abandoned places. I love lavender fields, vineyards, sunflower and pumpkin fields and the list is endless!

There is a sweet quote by Claude Monet: “I want to paint as the bird sings”. This touches my soul and greatly inspires me.

I grew up in an art infused family. My grandfather was a well known illustrator and fine artist in New York City as well as my mother who was an exceptionally gifted portrait painter and landscape artist. During high school I hopped on the train and travelled to New York to the Art Students League where I studied calligraphy and  then studied figure drawing with Robert Beverly Hale. I graduated from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY with a degree in art history and minored in Ceramics. I completed an internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the American Paintings Department and assisted in the Junior Museum art classes for young children.

I moved to Virginia and started a family, husband Jorge and daughter Alix. I attended James Madison University to earn an M.Ed. In Special Education and taught high school in Augusta County Schools for twenty years. In the last six years I have been taking watercolor classes and most recently pastel workshops with Maria Reardon. In the summer of 2018 I travelled to the Lot River Valley in Southwest France and attended a pastel workshop taught by Richard McKinley.