About the Artist
Artist's Biography
Pastel Painter
I started painting seriously with soft pastels in 2009 and love this medium! Soft pastels offer gorgeous, saturated hues but their range includes subdued and nuanced shades & tones too! I'm definitely a color junkie, not even slightly rehabilitated, and the sight of my pastels is a siren call to paint.
Initially I struggled to learn how to use soft pastels successfully but the challenge was too intriguing to abandon. I'm so glad I didn't give up. Although soft pastels can be challenging, they are a forgiving medium; I can remove marks with a magic eraser some artists use a razor blade to scrape off the pigment. Soft pastels are amazingly versatile: I draw with them, use different sized brushes and rubbing alcohol to dissolve and carefully spread the pigment I've laid down in an initial drawing, use watercolor or gouache for the under painting to create a value map and finish with soft pastels on top. They offer endless possibilities; their exploration and exploitation promise an intriguing future!
I've been fascinated with flowers, trees, rocks...the natural world since I was pretty young. My twin sister and I spent a great deal of time outdoors exploring the Arizona desert when we were growing up. We were beguiled by the rocks and plants we saw and spent many happy hours observing and studying what we found. I'm also a Master Gardener and love Mother Nature's organic shapes; her palette can be vivid or subdued but the shapes are always mesmerizing! I paint from my own photographs; I'm not trying to duplicate every detail I see but rather hope to convey the joy and reverence I feel for my subject matter.
EXHIBITIONS:
FORTHCOMING:
2024 | St Patrick Hospital Third Floor Gallery | Missoula, MT Jan thru March
2019 | Gallery 709 | November Group Show | Missoula, MT
2019 | Drawn West Studio | AAB Studio Tour June & November | Stevensville, MT
2019 | St Patrick Hospital Third Floor Gallery | Missoula, MT
2019 | St Patrick Hospital Surgery Clinic | Missoula, MT
SOLO:
2024 | St Patrick Hospital Third Floor Gallery | Missoula, MT
2017 | Interim Health Care | Featured Artists | Missoula, MT
2016 | Berkshire Hathaway Properties | Refined + Raw + Resolved | Missoula, MT
2016 | St Patrick Hospital Third Floor Gallery | Missoula, MT
2014 | St Patrick Hospital Third Floor Gallery | Missoula, MT
2012 | St Patrick Hospital Third Floor Gallery | Missoula, MT
2012 | Buttercup Café | Emerging Artist | Missoula, MT
GROUP:
2018 | Drawn West Studio | AAB Studio Tour | Stevensville, MT
2017 | Drawn West Studio | AAB Studio Tour | Stevensville, MT
2016 | Berkshire Hathaway Properties | Collective Show | Missoula, MT
2016 | Drawn West Studio | AAB Studio Tour | Stevensville, MT
2015 | Randy Higbee Gallery | 6” Squared Show | Costa Mesa, CA
2015 | Drawn West Studio | AAB Studio Tour | Stevensville, MT
2014 | Radius Gallery | Holiday Show | Missoula, MT
2014 | Randy Higbee Gallery | 6” Squared Show | Costa Mesa, CA
2014 | Drawn West Studio | AAB Studio Tour | Stevensville, MT
2014 | Friends of 2 Rivers | HOOKed on Art | Bonner, MT
2013 | River’s Mist Gallery | Pastel Society of the Northern Rockies| Stevensville, MT
2013 | Friends of 2 Rivers | HOOKed on Art | Bonner, MT
2012 | Friends of 2 Rivers | HOOKed on Art | Bonner, MT
2011 | Friends of 2 Rivers | HOOKed on Art | Bonner, MT
2010 | Brown’s Gallery | Pastel Society of the Northern Rockies | Boise, ID
MEMBERSHIPS:
American Impressionist Society - Associate Member
Pastel Society of America - Juried Associate Member since 2015
Pastel Society of the Northern Rockies 2010-2014
Works held in Private Collections in Arizona, California, Montana, South Carolina and Washington.
