"I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and art has been a part of my life from very early on. My mom, who is also a talented artist, encouraged me to begin oil painting classes when I was about 10 years old. After graduating from McDaniel College with a degree in Fine Art, I moved to Arizona where I worked as an art teacher and began my career as a professional artist. One of the first artists I discovered was Georgia O’Keeffe, and her work made a lasting impression on me. I find that like her, I am excited by the beauty I see in ordinary everyday objects. Although some of my work is composed like a traditional still life, many are enlarged beyond a normal scale. I’ve always been interested in photography and I usually shoot my own reference photographs. With camera in hand, I like to zoom in and explore the subtle textures and curves of an object until I start to lose the object itself. I love to use this same dramatic canvas filling perspective in my paintings. I look for areas where the shadows form interesting shapes, or the light glows through the flower petals, or the distorted reflection appears on the metal bowl. Color plays an important role in my work, but even more important is the effect of light on my subject."