When I was in grade school, a woman in the neighbourhood began offering oil painting classes to children as well as adults. For much of my childhood and teens years, I would cross the street every Saturday morning to paint. I was taught how to mix all the colours I needed from eight basic ones, including black, white, blue, yellow, red and two shades of brown. 

My childhood street backed onto a couple of huge parks and forested areas. I spent most of my summer and weekend days in these forests and parks, which nurtured my sense of wonder at the beauty and biology of the natural world. Daily, there were birds and small animals that flew, sang, perched, scampered and walked in my childhood yard. My oldest brother would bring home injured birds and animals, which would be coaxed back to health. 

For many years my career paths took me in other directions and I seldom painted, except once a year when I created custom-made Christmas cards for my family and friends. I always received positive feedback on the cards, but never found the time to do more painting. A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer and have spent a lot of my time in treatment and recovery. I took up painting again because it was therapeutic and I could paint despite my low energy levels. Painting focused my attention on health and healing, as did my walks outdoors.

All the time I spend in and with nature has affected my artwork, which I create to reflect beauty and peace. When I find a subject that will become a painting, I pause for a moment to take in the image with all my senses.

I am very curious and have a wide variety of interests, and this is reflected in the diversity of subject matter that I paint, including architecture and cars. The topics of the paintings display the variety and uniqueness that I find appealing,  Whatever the content, I strive to create a sense of beauty and a bit of whimsy, because I believe that people should surround themselves with things that invoke positive emotions. In much of my artwork, I usually use bright colours, but I also enjoy playing with more muted and darker tones as well as creating  contrasts in shades within a painting.

I now work with gouache paints. They are used with water and are made from natural pigments, water and a binding agent. Gouache paint creates opaque paintings that are matte, not glossy. The paint is like watercolour in that it can be re-wetted after it dries. However, like oils and acrylic paints, gouache allows me to create layers of paint on the paper or canvas. They have the feel of oil and I can work with them in a similar manner, but because they are mixed with water they are less toxic and easier to clean.

I hope that you enjoy looking at my creations as much as I enjoy painting them.

My art business has been designated as a "Trusted Art Seller" with The Art Storefronts Organization, which means you can shop with confidence, and know that I stand behind the quality and value of my products.