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Bio

I was born and raised in western Michigan and excelled at drawing and painting from an early age. I began working as a graphic designer in 1973 at the age of 16 and went on to have a 47-year career as an award-winning advertising art director. After retiring in 2020, I began pursuing painting full-time. My work is heavily influenced by my time in the advertising business where I honed my skills as a visual communicator and storyteller. Although I have taken an introductory college painting class, I am basically a self-taught artist. My paintings have been selected by juries in national and international competitions. I currently live in Nashville, Tennessee.

Artist Statement

I create hyperrealistic paintings of still lifes composed of man-made objects placed together to form a narrative. I approach my work like an explorer looking for meaning in the physical world through the things people interact with. As artifacts of human activity, objects hold symbolic meaning connected to history, culture, beliefs, and subjective experience. When placed together, the objects take on new more complex meanings that allow me to examine a wide variety of emotions and ideas.

 

My artistic process begins with singling out an object I want to work with. One that intrigues me, connects with me or piques my curiosity. With the intention of finding a story, I then intuitively place other objects in context with the original object based on what seems to feel right. After many combinations and adjustments, I arrive at a composition that deepens, shifts or clarifies my perspective in some way. Finally, I depict the resulting scene with great detail. It is a slow process that allows my thoughts and feelings to surface with minimal outside influence. The stories that emerge are often unexpected even to me.

 

Ultimately, painting helps me make sense of the world. I hope my work is viewed as an invitation to find personal connections to the narratives and provides a mechanism for reflection.

Exhibitions

2023

 

Still life, Group exhibition, Customs House Art Museum, Clarksville, TN

 

Pushing Forward Reaching Back, National Juried Exhibition, American Women Artists, Brookgreen Gardens Museum, Murrells Inlet, SC

SHE National Juried Exhibition, ArtFluent.com

2022

FiKVA Award for Painters 2022, International Juried Competition, FiKVA-foundation (Figuratieve Kunst Vandaag), Antwerp, Belgium

MOOD National Juried Exhibition, ArtFluent.com

 

MIMIC, International Juried Exhibition, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH

 

Spring Online Exhibition, National Juried Competition, American Women Artists

 

Feminist Insight: Telling Her Story, National Juried Competition, Ellington-White Contemporary Gallery, Fayetteville, NC

 

Breaking Through: The Rise of American Women Artists, National Juried Exhibition, American Women Artists, Customs House Art Museum, Clarksville, TN

2021 

Narrative Still Life Exhibition, National Juried Competition, Catholic Art Institute, Chicago, IL

ViewPoint 53 Exhibition, Cincinnati Art Club’s National Juried Art Competition, Cincinnati, OH

 

2007

Asheville Arts Council, Regional Juried Show, Asheville, NC

Publications

2023 / Studio Visit Magazine, Volume 51/52 (forthcoming)

 

2022 / Create Magazine!, Volume 33 

 

2022 / Artists Over 60 Competition, Finalist, Artist Magazine March/April Issue

 

2022 / National Artistic Excellence Competition, Runner Up, Southwest Art Magazine January/February Issue

Memberships

American Women Artists, Associate With Distinction / website

Newsletter Archive

2022

December / The art of persistence.

May / What's this all about?

February / A work in progress.

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