My journey with my art began when I was just nine years old. The parochial school I attended offered virtually nothing in the arts and I was not happy. I must have been very insistent about my need for art as my mother found a wonderful local artist to give me private lessons in drawing and watercolor. I met with her once a week at her home and then later at the Municipal Building as she took on more students.
Summers were better as I could attend the public school summer school art classes. Even as a child I entered local art competitions and found friends with the same love of art. While in high school, I remember spending as much of my day in the art studio as I could. I don’t think I ever went to a study hall.
I attended UW Whitewater and majored in fine art and have taken the lessons learned there and created my own definition of expression. Throughout the years I, have actively pursued my art by taking watercolor classes, design classes, been a member of Blackhawk Artists, owned my own design business, free-lanced for a Chicago design firm and exhibited and sold my work in galleries.
My approach to art is simplistic. I just react to what surrounds me; the seasons and things and people I love. Although a scene or a photo may influence me, my paintings are always conceptual. I paint quickly and begin with a very loose drawing directly onto the canvas. My freshest work is done in one sitting which is why I tend to work in a smaller format.
Art has been a constant in my life, a compulsion I guess. Even though I haven’t always painted, I have always been involved in creative pursuits whether it be sewing, crafts or painting with my children and grandchildren. If a day goes by without creating at least one thing, I consider it a loss.
