Would yo
u like to come along on a journey with me? It promises to be an adventure. An adventure I’ve been waiting a lifetime to begin.
It seems like only a few pages back in this book of life when a small child’s Christmas wishlist was all about crayons and paints, just a whisper in the wind ago when a young woman began painting waterfowl in watercolors, and seemingly a blink of the eye since a burned-out middle-aged healthcare professional sought stress escape in detailed colored pencil drawings. The final chapter of this book is yet to be written. It will be a chapter filled with adventures for a retired Sunday painter who attempts to take her skills to the next level and the anticipated joyful journey through the ups and downs of
artistic growth and discovery.
I am as “self-taught” as an artist can be, but a diligent student of the basics nonetheless. I draw and paint for the same reason most formally trained professionals do: Because I have a creative itch that calls out to be scratched. 
Each discovery in artistic expression kindles the flame for the next. The development of style and the perfection of skills come from consistency in practice. Artistic growth comes from doing. It has been my experience that the demands of a forty-year-long career have significantly limited that “doing” for me.
But this is changing. As I close the doors that lead into the hospitals and healthcare facilities that have been my home for so long; and as the demands of that stressful and structured existence fade far away, I will be stepping through a new door into a new land. What will be found in that new land: the choice is in my hands. It may be a well-composed, moody and evocative landscape. It may reveal an energetic dance of light and shade. Or one might find a symphony of vibrant and harmonious colors. Won’t you step through that door with me?
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once one grows up.”
-Pablo Picasso
Colored pencil is my first love. A very tedious and time-consuming process involving many layers of pigment application. Here are some photos showing some works in progress.
Artist Bio
I am a native of Birmingham, Alabama and a 1982 graduate of Auburn University College of Pharmacy. I have a lifelong love affair with Art. Since 1993, I have been a resident of Trussville, Alabama. While working in various hospitals in the Greater Birmingham area, drawing and painting has served as my free time passion. I have been involved with organizing and teaching art at the Trussville Senior Activity Center, exhibited my work locally through the Trussville Merchants Art Show and was honored to be the Featured Artist at the 2017 Taste of Trussville Charity Event. Most recently I have promoted my work through commissioned pet portraits. I enjoy membership in the Cahaba Art Association and the Mountain Brook Art Association.
