My work is autobiographical, responding to the quiet joy and beauty of everyday surroundings.   My earliest memories as a pre-schooler include a serious love of art-making, then around age 8, I got my hands on an abandoned wooden artist’s box and instantly fell in love with the exotic aromas of oil paints and linseed oil.  I have pursued art ever since.

My goal as an artist is not to replicate the familiar like a camera, but to convey a sense of the tangible reality of my subject in a compelling way.  I mainly work from direct observation of familiar subjects, and prefer using a variety of media, enjoying the constant cross-pollination between them:  Oil painting luxuriates in buttery texture and luscious brush strokes; while acrylics paint more quickly, layering glazes or washes into pentimenti (marks revealing the process of painting).  Watercolour attracts me with its “calligraphy” brush strokes and melting colours.  I enjoy the rich colours of pastels, playing with colour juxtapositioning, as well as its bilingual ability to either draw or paint.  I fell in love with the bling of gold and silver leaf, and how it packs a punch.  

I was born in New Orleans but I have lived in California most of my life, so I regard myself as a Californian.  After receiving a BFA in painting and photography, I moved to Paris to study at Le Cordon Bleu and La Varenne.  I enjoyed a rewarding career as a food stylist in San Francisco while participating in the graduate painting program at Academy of Art University, S.F., then continued my studies at Brentwood Art Center in Los Angeles.  I reside in Santa Monica, Ca. and work full time as an artist.  My work is in private collections in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia.  I have recently begun to exhibit my work in group and juried shows, have just had my first solo show, and have created the artwork for published book covers.