I was raised in the South Bay Area and over the years have seen many changes in Santa Clara Valley. The hills that I wandered through as a child now have homes built on them. The fields of mustard I saw as a child can now be found only in little patches in the few remaining orchards and open spaces that I pass as I drive from San Jose to Gilroy.

            I had been painting for several years when I was given the opportunity to display some of my paintings in a local gallery. The owner wanted paintings that depicted local scenes, preferably landscapes.  I was challenged to find landscapes that showed what our valley meant to me; our California oaks, valley mustard and El Toro Mountain in Morgan Hill. In painting these local scenes, I wanted to create a visual image of what this valley means to me. Another artist once told me that only God can create nature and we can only paint an impression of what we see, we cannot duplicate nature. My work is a representation of what I see around me; the things that give me joy.

            Painting nature, still life, animals and figures gives me joy. My paintings are a reflection of that joy. My work is primarily done in pastels on archival paper.  My latest pieces of artwork were inspired by my travels through Turkey, France and Scotland.  "Lost" symbolizes the plight of children in some parts of the world and was inspired by a photo my daughter's friend took while stationed in Afghanistan. The "Glamas Coo" was the result of visiting Glamas Castle in Scotland. I fell in love with their soft, beautiful eyes and gentle expressions of these wonderful animals and wanted to duplicate the textural feeling of their fur on paper so I used rough watercolor paper and a watercolor under painting before I applied pastels.   While driving to Morgan Hill to visit my mom I pass by grapevines and walnut orchards. "Last Harvest" was painted from a photo of these vines.

            I am currently exploring textures using different papers and under paintings then applying pastels. I love texture and my next goal is to use texture to enhance future paintings.