About the Artist

   Art making has been part of my life since the time I could pick up a pencil. I have taken art classes throughout my life and have always been in the midst of creative projects. Since my late teens, I have been inspired by feelings and images that represented a world beyond the usual day-to-day experience; something more expansive, elementary, evolutionary, and beyond the personal. I studied various forms of Eastern and Western philosophy. My academic interests took me into anthropology and psychology. Completing a graduate degree in Transpersonal Psychology brought art, spirituality and psychology together and during this time I began working in the expressive arts. I had the wonderful opportunity to study with Expressive Arts educator and counselor Natalie Rogers, the daughter of Humanistic Psychologist, Carl Rogers. Expressive arts became the closest way for me to experience and express this “other” world.

   I developed a deep passion for monotypes after taking a class from Portland artist, William Park at the Sitka Center on the Oregon Coast. I soon after quite my career in technology management for the state, and became a full time artist. This was in 2005. I enjoyed my work with monotypes for many years and in 2011, began to focus on acrylic painting.

    All of my work is an effort to describe the indescribable, most of my work is abstract expression; very textural with many layers and may include geometric shapes and abstract landscapes. Monotype and painting provide me with a way to explore, at a deep soul level, images that express emotions and an experience of the formless; to explore a dialogue that can have a mystical feel.

Exhibitions and Shows

▪ "Celebrating December – Something Red", Honorable Mention 2014 & 2005 Artists in Action
▪ First Place Award 2013 Oregon State Fair – Fine Art Professional Category
▪ "The Art of Being" Featured Artist, Elsinore Gallery June 5-29, 2013
▪ "Wild Women"2014 & 2012 juried group show River Gallery, Independence, OR
▪ Lane Community College Art Center Juried "40 Works" Group Show Feb – March 2011
▪ Salem Art Association, Bush Barn Art Gallery, OR:
         • Holiday Invitational Show 2014, 2013, 2012
         • Exhibiting artist Fall-Winter 2013
         • Solo show, Focus Gallery, "Soul to Soul: A Conversation"
            Nov 2 – Dec 24, 2010
         • Artist in Residence October – November/December 2010
         • Group Show Member and co-organizer "Green Inside/out"
            Jul 11 – Aug 10, 2008
         • Group Show Member – Project Space – Summer of 2008
         • Solo show, Focus Gallery, "Passages in Monotype" Feb 29 – April 8, 2008
         • Salem Art Fair exhibitor 2006
         • Salem Salon March 2005
▪ Keizer Art Association, Teacher's Group Show July 2010
▪ Featured Artist with Brenda Marks; Show Titled: "Inside Out" Lunaria Gallery, Silverton, OR
September 2007
▪ Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts, June 2007, Group Juried Show
▪ Solo Show: Enid Joy Mount Gallery, Keizer, August 2007
▪ Open Studio: January 2006, 2007, 2011
▪ Featured Artist in Salem's First Wednesday May 2005 – March 2007, venues included the Reed Oprah House, The Wild Pear, Grand Vines, Café Noir, Roy John Jewelers, and The Art Department
▪ Participant in Mary Lou Zeek Gallery 2006 little shrines project invitational, February 2006, Salem
▪ Solo Show and First Friday Artist's Reception at Newberg Gallery, Newberg, OR, Month of April, 2006
▪ Solo Show at Salem Public Library, Salem, OR, February 2006
▪ "Celebrating December – Something Red", Salem Downtown Association & Artists in Action show December 2005 Award
▪ Black, White, & Gray Show, Enid Mount Gallery, Keizer, OR, Nov. 2005

Created various classes in Monotype Print Making, Collage, Expressive Arts, and Art Journaling.