About

When I was young I daydreamed all the time. All children do. The difference for me was my parents. I said to my father “I’m so bored” and he would tell me “Good, go think of something interesting to do.” And my mother would say, “Go work on your drawing,” and then help me with my copies of illustrations from the beautiful picture books she would buy for me. And they both were avid readers, always getting lost in the world of a good book.  So, I was taught early to take my daydreaming seriously.

My paintings are all painted with oil paint. Sometimes I put a layer of texture and acrylic down first, and other times I paint with oil paint right on the canvas, no texture. I start all my paintings working in batches with abstract colors. I then put all the abstract paintings up on the walls in the studio, sit back to look at them all and let my mind wander. As an idea comes to me I “sketch” it on the canvas with thin oil paint, brushes and paper towels. Once the idea has come together and I’ve worked out the details, I let the sketch dry and then paint with a full color palette until it is finished. My picture books all start with the artwork. The paintings are done first, and I select the ones I want to use to stitch together into a story. The ideas for these stories come from this painting process of daydreaming and painting the images that come to mind.