My commitment to drawing began when I was eight years old and taught myself to draw by looking closely and copying images from comic books and magazines.  I grew up knowing I wanted to study painting in school.   Having had no exposure to art or teachings about art as a child, I was hungry for knowledge.  I also knew I wanted to teach art to others.
    I earned a BFA degree at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, an MA at University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and an MFA at New Mexico State University.
    Studying art in a formal institution was as satisfying and productive as I hoped it would be.   Fortunately, at the same time, Feminism was a current force in the art world.  I was privileged to study with two feminist artists, Joyce Kozloff and Harmony Hammond.  They each served as role models for me, who encouraged me to pursue a personal and woman’s vision.  The possibility of asserting myself by telling my own story required me to first know myself in order to find an authentic voice.  This realization led me to use representational images and close observation as the means in my painting process.  Symbolic story telling became the goal.   Still life was the obvious subject matter.  
    Objects, would serve as carriers of meaning through memory, association, and connection to life experience.  Still-lifes set the stage for a story to be revealed in the painted image.  The objects as catalyst and the image as carrier.    
    I taught painting and drawing for 25 years. I wrote and published a book, Drawing Basics which came directly out of my experience teaching beginning drawing to college students who, for the most part, had no drawing skills.   My teaching philosophy is based on a clear, straightforward approach to learning how to draw, anchored in looking closely.    The underlying belief that anyone who can see, can learn to draw, along with the conviction that personal expression has its source in visual perception are the foundation of my methods.  
    My teaching is inspired by my studio work which relies on the process of seeing as the source for meaning.