Handau is an abstract painter expressing her work by exploring the relationship between nature and our aging environment. Using dialogue between the two can be her best source of inspiration. The severity of the elements can age and weather and create the most interesting designs. The distressed look of patina on metal and dilapidating walls intrigues her by their abstract surfaces and patterns. How many stories do these old structures hide in their layers as they are slowly peeling away by nature? Handau is fascinated by the past which inspires her to create her own historical narrative through painting.
The tactility of multiple textures and the effects they have as one is layered onto another, are the backbones of her pieces and are common elements in all her work. She uses plaster, salt, baking soda and fibers to build up textures, and scrape them down leaving deep marks and underlying skins of paint. "The process is both repetitive and therapeutic and I compare it to delving into the “past” stratum of my own history."

Handau, who has a BA in Art History from the University of Nevada, Reno, has exhibited her works in California, Nevada, Hawaii and Germany.
Recently, she was featured on PBS "ARTEFFECTS", Season 6/Episode 614. She was part of a 2021 three person show, Led by Vision", at The Sierra Arts Foundation Gallery in Reno, Nevada. In 2018, she was privileged to be part of a group show, “Landscapes of Nevada” at Nevada Fine Arts Gallery in Reno, Nevada. She showed in the Hawai'i Nei 2016 Exhibition at Wailoa Center in Hilo, Hawaii.
In 2016, she was featured at McKinley Galleries East in Reno, Nevada. She also participated in the 2016 "Doors to Recovery" art project. Her work was exhibited in the 2016 Spring Show at Post Gallery and the Van Bokkelen Gallery at St. Mary's Art Center in Virginia City, Nevada.
She was featured as a demonstrating artist in 2015 at the Beverly Hills Art Show. In 2006, she received a Professional Endowment Grant from Sierra Arts Foundation in Reno, Nevada. She took 1st place in painting at the 1999 North Kitsap Art Show, Port Gamble, Washington. In 1998, she was given an Honorable Mention in painting from the Beverly Hills Art Show. She lives and works in Reno, Nevada.