Painting provides balance in my life and is a working meditation.  It quiets my mind and soothes my soul.  My work is tranquil and peaceful, quiet and serene.  I use color and texture and perspective, and a scene cast in light and shadow to create powerful imagery with a sense of peace and calm.  Each painting is an emotional self-portrait and I feel most validated when someone comes to a sudden stop in front of one of my works and gasps in recognition of the emotion it elicits.

My life as an Emergency Medicine Physician began in 1990. The experiences caring for others in crisis were both difficult and exciting, filled with joy and despair, extreme contradictions that dramatically impact my artistic approach.  My hope is that my work inspires contemplation of the juxtapositions in our lives.... of ideas, thoughts, reflections and actions, all competing for our attention.  In the busy chaos of our world, I want my paintings to imbue a sense of beauty and light, stillness and peace, tranquility and calm.

Painting and creating have been part of my life for as long as I can remember.  Being entirely self-taught, my journey to the present has had glories, bumps, pauses and lengthy stalls.   In the early ‘90s, I read Betty Edward’s Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and was astonished by my right brain. I’d lived in my left-brain for so many years I had no idea my creativity was seeking expression.  The works of Vermeer, Van Gogh and Fantin-Latour are among my favorites and are sources of great inspiration. 

Life, as it is wont to do, intervened and there were several years when I didn’t paint at all.  And then in January 2016, something magical happened.  I had a dream.  It woke me from sleep and guided me to buy a cake-icing spatula and to paint with it.  The very next day, I bought one and my joyful, peaceful and creative journey to the present day began.

If an artist's style can be categorized, mine would be considered contemporary realism/minimalism with a sprinkle of hope.  I often describe it as the absolute absence of chaos which everyone needs, especially now.  My goal as a human being and artist has always been to seek beauty and light, stillness and peace, tranquility and calm....and the radiance of hope.

September 2020

Artist's Statement

I was born and raised in St. Louis, MO.  In 1983, I graduated from the University of Detroit with a BS in Chemistry and in 1987, graduated from St. Louis University School of Medicine.  I moved to Atlanta in 1987 for residency at Emory University School of Medicine and fell in love with the South.  I live in Atlanta with my husband, David and our yellow lab, Noah.  Our children and grandchildren are scattered around the country.