Welcome to my website! I am a studio artist at the Manitou Art Center in central Colorado, working in acrylic, collage, and photography. I am also a writer and visual creator, crafting and designing content for both print and digital publications.

My work is rooted in Place and Sense of Place. “Place” being any space – ranging in size from a favorite climbing tree to a vast continent – with personal attachment or cultural meaning. “Sense of Place” is the deep emotional connection we feel for these places.

My mission as a literary and visual artist is to build upon these emotional connections, creating work that resonates with people’s lives, boosting joy and inspiring action.

This website – part gallery and part travel blog – contains a sample of my artistic work. Please be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page, where I introduce my latest creative venture.

I love the bold colors of acrylic. It’s fast-drying nature encourages me to paint fast and loose, giving my work an impressionistic feel. Acrylic is my cure for perfectionism, quieting my relentless inner critic and encouraging me to create from a place of instinct and emotion. I even occasionally use acrylic as finger paint, dabbing on thick strokes to add texture to a painting.

Collage is an art form I discovered during the pandemic. The long days at home led me to join online art sessions via Zoom. My sister-in-law, a brilliant East Coast collage artist, introduced me to the medium. Because of her, I now see the potential of every old magazine, piece of junk mail, or scrap of paper to create art with a depth that comes from careful (or messy!) layering.

And Now for My New Venture

Over the years, my passion has repeatedly led me to an exploration of humor writing. I find fulfillment in using humor to add joy to people’s difficult lives. Humor resonates with an audience’s experience and is proven to increase energy levels and well-being, reducing negative emotions, helping people view situations in a positive way, and increasing interest in new knowledge and connections, often leaving individuals and communities changed.

My latest venture is to develop a comic strip concept starring the two dogs in charge of our family, Stella & Daisy. As anyone with dogs knows, they can be an endless source of comic frustration. And though I am able to use my skills in writing, art, and digital design, cartooning is a new (and somewhat scary) art form for me. I am bolstered by the words of Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin & Hobbes: “A comic strip takes just a few seconds to read, but over the years, it creates a surprisingly deep connection with readers. I think that incremental aspect, that unpretentious daily aspect, is a source of power.” Watterson certainly showed the world that a boy and his stuffed tiger could be infinitely relatable to readers. The medium is small.

The impact is huge.

So stay tuned for the adventures of a pair of mis-matched rescue pups with a nose for mischief. Their cartoon personas have slowly taken shape on the backs of napkins and scraps of paper scattered through our house. Below is the first digital representation of Daisy, the wire-haired dachshund who is in complete command of our lives. This is Daisy’s favorite pose when she is sprawled on the couch, rubbing it in to our bigger dog, Stella, who is not allowed on the couch.

Unpretentious Daisy is not.