I live in Ashland, Oregon and paint out of my backyard studio, a recently renovated 100+ year old shed just a few short steps from my back door! My husband and I relocated from San Diego in 2006, ending our 20+ year corporate careers, to be closer to family and to spend more time doing the things that are important to us – and for me, it’s art!

I had taken many art classes at UCSD, and once we moved to Ashland, I discovered oil painting at Talent Studios. My first oil painting was of Oliver, one of our special needs dogs that had just passed away – I loved the process and the final painting.
 

When the class moved on to figure painting and portraiture, I really struggled to remain motivated. That’s when it struck me – all of the art I really loved creating had animals in it – even as a child, all my drawings and paintings were of animals. So, I embraced my desire to focus on animal art, painting a large rooster in class while everyone else painted the live model.
 

Soon after my “aha” moment, I painted all of our dogs and gave family and friends pet portraits as gifts. I enjoyed everything about the creative process and seeing the reaction when someone looked at their pet’s portrait for the first time.
 

Now, I paint animals that I find amusing and custom pet portraits, while donating 10% of my sales to local animal rescue groups. In my free time, I volunteer at our local animal shelter as a dog walker, and Sanctuary One, a farm animal rescue in Jacksonville, OR. I am also on the exhibiting committee and jury new artwork in at the Ashland Art Center.