About Me
I live in small-town Vermont with my amazing husband Brad; in a house I designed and we built ourselves. My adult children live close by which is wonderful. I paint in a very photorealistic style which I adopted from my background in architecture and my love for detail. In college, I studied architecture at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts graduating cum laude, third in my class.
I am an international award-winning artist, demonstrator, juror and watercolor instructor and showcase my work in solo shows and international exhibitions. I am a signature member in the National Watercolor Society, American Watercolor Society, Women in Watercolor, and multiple others. I have been featured on television and in many magazines and books including Splash, Watercolor Artist, Artscope and The Artists Magazine.
With a deep passion for teaching watercolor, I find inspiration from sharing my love of the medium with others. I travel all over the country to teach in-person classes, give demonstrations and judge watercolor competitions. I hold classes for every age and ability in-person and online and love to take on a limited number of one-on-one mentor students each year as well. Because of my absolute love for teaching, I started my Let’s Paint Online School in 2019. It currently has over 160 full length video tutorial classes available, as well as dozens more about materials and techniques. My online school is so important to me and I love connecting with hundreds of amazing students from all over the world.
In 2020 I started Women in Watercolor and run it as the President of the International Women’s Organization. WIW has two yearly shows and a membership of hundreds from all over the world. I love working with and promoting these talented women from all over the world and am excited to continue to grow WIW.
About My Work
I found that my perfectionist nature from architecture carried over into my painting as well. It doesn’t matter if it’s a one minute sketch or a forty hour painting, I like things to look just so.
In my paintings, I enjoy focusing on certain details and highlighting them, instead of focusing on the entire scene. The hinge of a door, the peak of a roof, a single window of a house. I believe when you take one element out of the whole, it gives you an entirely different feeling.
Many small features all come together to make what a person would normally envision when they think of a barn, let’s say. But when you only focus on the hinge of the barn door and a few boards, it puts that small piece in an entirely different light. You notice how the sun hits that one object and the shadows it forms; the roughness and grain of the wood and the character and texture of the rust on the metal. That one piece seems to become the most important element, and you begin to notice how unique it is and the feelings that it evokes. You notice things about it that you would never become aware of if you just painted the full barn. There is so much more character in those small elements that I really like to show in my paintings.
