I was born and raised in a family of nine noisy kids in a small town near Buffalo New York. My mother was a gifted painter and my father was a high school music teacher. I messed around with art my whole life. I filled notebooks with drawings and did my first paintings at the age of 10. I was a good student, graduating 9th in my high school class, singing in the choir and playing in the band and orchestra, but rarely taking time for art classes.

In college I studied art formally - taking drawing, painting, ceramics, photography and design. I earned a bachelor’s degree in art education from Buffalo State University College, and taught elementary art in the public schools of Rochester New York. Our family moved to Michigan and, while raising our daughters, I attended night school at Michigan State University. I learned printmaking (lithography, etching and silkscreen) and experienced the excitement of selling my prints at shows.

I worked as a teacher, writer and illustrator for many years in Michigan. I took up watercolor and acrylic painting, joined an active artist guild, and began exhibiting my paintings.

We moved to Durham, North Carolina in 2005. I set up an art business, continued to study and began teaching at the Durham Arts Council. I currently have my own studio where I paint daily.