world it has opened for me is exciting & full of possibilities! I am still fairly new at it, but drawing for years taught me volumes & prepared me for painting. I
Familiarity & routine bring many of us comfort, however growth & beautiful changes occur when we try our hand at something new. The learning curve can dampen our spirits, but if we continue working & push through it, the sense of accomplishment is incomparable. And who knows, perhaps the trajectory of our lives can change by simply taking one small chance. I don’t consider myself a big risk taker – I’ve never jumped out of planes or gone deep sea diving or climbed Mt. Everest – but, looking back on my life thus far, I have been able to have some incredible adventures because I followed the urgings of my heart & took small risks. I always enjoyed drawing as a child & wound up gravitating to the arts in college, but I stayed in my comfort zone with graphite pencils & charcoal. I was familiar with them. I knew how to smudge, erase, & blend. I knew how they behaved & felt that I had some control because I understood these mediums. It wasn’t until a couple decades after I graduated from Southwestern University that I thought about drawing with color. That one small step, although not risky by some standards,
will continue to take chances & be open to new opportunities as they arise. I envision working on large scale, colorful murals someday in the near future, bringing art outdoors for all to enjoy. I will always keep in mind that in order to sail the ocean, we must leave the dock! Utilizing a bold, contemporary style full of color & life, dynamic angles, & layers of tonal variations, I work primarily with acrylics on canvas to spread my love of people & music with the world. During my professional dance career, prior to raising my two sons, I experienced many moments of shared joy & powerful collective connections through different genres of music, no matter the country or language. Living in Kingston Springs (just on the outskirts of Nashville) since 2007, has provided me the opportunity to interact with many world-renowned musicians who allow me to study their hands, instruments, & techniques. In my music-themed pieces, I strive to convey the soulful messages on canvas that they express in their songs. A lifetime of drawing with charcoal & graphite taught lessons in relation to composition, perspective, & values which has served as a launchpad for me, as I have only really been painting since 2016. In my artwork, I choose to focus on creating images everyone can relate to, leading my audience to shift their attention to the brighter notes & more positive aspects of humanity. After participating in several classy, tame, organized events, I realized that my loud style would be better suited for restaurants, bars, studios, buildings, & music
festivals. I wanted my art to be enjoyed by & accessible to ALL. I am honored that Urban Grub, a super cool eatery on 12th Ave. S. in Nashville houses many of my original paintings (making space for more paints to spill out at home where I create). And I am thrilled that I have been the selected artist for Clearwater Jazz Holiday, held in Clearwater, FL, for 2020 & 2021! I have always drawn since I was a child, but, it was a joyful moment at a lakehouse when my youngest boy plucked a turtle out of the water & shouted with joy, that urged me to start drawing in color. I drew his turtle with greens & yellows & loved the detail of his precious hands holding the creature. My son was amazed that I could draw then proceeded to ask me if I would paint an underwater mural in his room. I was hesitant, as I’d never had a painting class & wasn’t really comfortable with working in color yet. But it was just paint. We planned it out to include a 5’ shark, a couple of sea turtles, a glow-in-the-dark jelly fish, a lion fish, & an eel. After he & I applied the blues, greens, & purples to create the water, I really dove in & started enjoying the therapeutic process of painting. Pictures of his mural led to requests to paint interior murals for friends. Because I was still transporting kids here & there, prepping & cooking healthy meals for my family, teaching fitness classes at various gyms, taking care of our animals & yard, etc., I did not have room in my life to pursue it. I needed to find a way to paint without adding
felt gutsy & different. And paint? Well, that medium was completely new to me, but the
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