The raison d’etre for my floral and landscape paintings can be traced directly to the influences that surrounded my early childhood. Born and raised in a small town in Austria near forests, glens and mountains, I was constantly seeking out the many varied kinds of floral beauty which is ever present in this land. During the summer months, in a high mountain lake enclosure, my siblings and I would make daylong forays into the forested areas solely to see what kinds of flowers we could encounter. A difficult find, but a most sought after one, was the edelweiss. This was so because one had to climb up the side of a mountain to see them growing as an outcropping in the rocks. This would become the trophy of the day! Another favored sight was the Christrose, commonly called the Schneerose or snow rose, because it could be seen popping up out of the snow cover on the ground.
In school I was always fascinated with any instrument be it pen, pencil or crayon, that could make anything from a strait line to a complicated image. I really never understood at the time why I had this strong attraction for art supplies, never could make the connection between it and my love of nature.
It wasn’t until I came to the United States and married that the association was made. A casual remark by my husband, that I had a natural talent and propensity to draw and paint, made me realize that I ought to get going. A starter paint kit was purchased and that’s the beginning of the story.
Inidividual Artist Award, Rockford Area Arts Council, Mayor’s Arts Award, Rockford, IL, 2007
YWCA Blanche Ellis Starr Award for Leadership in the Arts, Rockford, IL 2006
Artist for the years 2001, 2002 and 2005 Easter Seals Campaigns
Reflecting Achievement Award, Rockford Area Arts Council, Rockford, IL, 2004
Finalist in the National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., Illinois Chapter Millennium 2000 Show
Featured in The Artist’s Magazine, September, 2000
SELECTED ONE WOMAN SHOWS
Embassy of Austria, Washington D.C., 2011
Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, IL, 2008
Whitehead Gallery, Rockford, IL, 2006
Schloss Kammer, Attersee, Upper Austira, Austria, 2005
Die Wirtschaftskammer-Galerie, Vienna, Austria, 2002
Zurich-American, Schaumburg, IL, 2001
Arlington Green Executive Center, Arlington Heights, IL, 2001
