Born in San Diego, much of my youth was spent in New Mexico with my grandparents on their dairy farm. Thus the beginning of my lifelong love for animals. I wanted a horse before I could walk. I also discovered at a very early age I could draw fairly well. My parents moved around a lot so school and making friends was very difficult. I usually found solitude in day dreaming and drawing. I was always told I’d need to make a living when I grew up so I needed to forget about drawing silly pictures. But I knew by the time I was eight, I was destined to be an artist.

We moved to Northern California and part of that year I wasn’t even enrolled in school. We finally ended up back in San Diego. It was there in the 5^th grade I had a wonderful teacher who took an interest in me. He told me I should keep drawing because I had talent. He would often have me write on the blackboard for him stating I had beautiful handwriting. I found a new interest, “penmanship“.

In Jr. high and high school I took all the art classes offered. I joined the 'Artist Club' in high school, we made the banners for the gymnasium rallies and football games. I was hooked. I knew I wanted to make a living as an Illustrator and Sign Painter. My high school consular discouraged me from entering the art field as my chosen profession. He quoted percentages of how many people wouldn’t make it as an artist or actor and both of those fields should be avoided.

There weren’t many women painting signs during those years, but I persevered and met many nice folks along the way who were willing to teach me the fine art of hand lettering, gold leafing, and all the old skills that are no longer practiced today. I worked for several fine sign shops and a manufacturing company in El Cajon CA, where we made helmet decals for high school, college and professional football teams along with many other sports products. We also painted the punching bags for the brand new “Captain Kids World @ Sea World San Diego“. While working there, my boss introduced me to the Inventor of a brand new advertising concept, who just happened to be looking for an artist to help pull off his “big” ideas. The new concept was an exact replica of a product (such as a cola can or beer can) to be in exact scale, 20 to 30 feet tall, made of vinyl and inflated by a external fan measured by cubic volume of cold air. The Inventor called his new idea “Giant Inflatables”. My employer convinced me this would soon become a huge success world wide and that I would be perfect for the job. I worked for the Giant Inflatable company for several years. Do any of you remember in March of 1983 when an Inflatable “King Kong” was strapped to the top of the Empire State Building in New York City honoring the 50^th anniversary of the original movie? We were in the headlines around the world.  I spent 28 years working in advertising and art related fields. I was blessed with a little talent, hard work, a bit of luck and had a wonderful career.

When my Pro Rodeo cowboy husband bought a cattle ranch in Oregon and we moved on to the next phase of our life, I felt it was finally time to pursue and develop the fine art I‘d longed for. After painting in most of the mediums I found Pastels to be perfect for me. Having spent all my adult years with horses, dogs and cats, naturally I decided to paint what I know best. During those years on the cattle ranch I studied fine art, taking workshops with accomplished artists, while continuing to concentrate on animals, their behavior and their anatomy. Being married to a cattle rancher made the task accessible and rewarding.