I have painted from observation for more than forty years – portraits and still life – which has allowed me to navigate aesthetic challenges and opportunities that range from pure exploration of light, color, pattern and texture to work that has more complex personal meaning.
Throughout my career, I have painted portraits and self-portraits from observation and from photographs and drawings. My intent is to seek out and paint the humanity of each individual.
My recent paintings also include a series of cow portraits, inspired by the last small working beef cattle farm in my suburban Pittsburgh neighborhood, just steps from my backyard. I observe, photograph and paint these animals, as newborns, as they grow, and as mothers with calves of their own. While I initially painted the cattle juxtaposed within their landscape, my focus has now shifted to painting portraits of individual cows as well as group portraits that symbolize a network and culture we can only imagine. My intent is to capture the unique physicality and personality of each cow that I paint. Each animal is recognizable, soulful and spirited, tapping into my own need for a lost connection to nature, earth and motherhood. The cattle on this small farm provide me with artistic challenges, and at the same time, a personal source of symbolism, calm and comfort.
The printmaking processes of monotype and intaglio have allowed me to represent a variety of themes and subjects that range from the personal and autobiographical to the symbolic and mythological. My prints echo my artistic process of drawing and painting.
As a professional artist, I have exhibited paintings in oil, acrylic and prints in numerous galleries in the Pittsburgh region as well as in statewide and national juried exhibitions. In 2014, my cow portraits were included in the Pittsburgh Biennial at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. My work has been exhibited locally in group shows with Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Group A, Pittsburgh Society of Artists, and Pittsburgh Print Group.
I have taught a variety of painting and drawing classes to adults through educational and community arts venues. I received a Master in Arts in Teaching (1976) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (1975), both from Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.