My artistic path of over thirty years began with a damp ball of clay in my high school ceramics class in Southern California. I had been a kid who mostly liked to draw hot rod cars and superheroes and, of course, images of the band Kiss. But through ceramics I discovered a love of form and color and that thrilling tactile experience of making art has stayed with me to this day. After graduation from high school in 1982, I entered the University of California at Santa Barbara as a ceramics major, and immediately embraced the vibrant pulse of the art department. This engaging new world of ideas was far outside the limited discourse of my high school ceramics department. I saw graduate students exploring abstract forms that had nothing to do with functionality, but their work was layered with eccentric glazes and asymmetry. I listened to professors expound on the meditative process of pinch pots and other pottery forms. I was hooked. Part of the curriculum for art students was to take classes in studio practices outside of our chosen field, which led me to the painting department. As much as I loved ceramics, the immediacy of painting and drawing and the freedom to express ideas through simple mark-making really intrigued me. As my interest grew, I explored all genres—from geometric abstraction to figurative expressionism—and eventually abandoned the ceramics department in favor of paint. At my graduation exhibition in 1986, I was given the prestigious William Dole Award for Excellence in Painting, and thus my course was set. I have experimented with different kinds of imagery in my painting, but for the last twenty years my focus has been the landscape. The natural environment is a wonderful vehicle through which to explore color and gesture and the effects of light. I’m trying to define my own style within the genre and to push the boundaries of color and composition. I work hard to keep my brushwork loose yet representational and to build up a rich layer of paint on the canvas or paper. Each painting begins with a conceived direction but then becomes transformed as I let certain marks and colors lead me along until a harmonious end is achieved. The process of transformation is what keeps my creativity fueled. As much as I think I know about painting, I’m still learning and keeping my eyes open to new inspiration along the way. I have traveled extensively throughout India and Southeast Asia, lived in New York for ten years, and from 2012-2014 spent two years with my family at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, Ireland, on a painting residency. In 2014 we left Ireland and moved to Asheville, North Carolina, where we feel blessed to be surrounded by such an abundance of nature. My 30-year career as a professional artist continues to thrive, and my audience keeps expanding through a busy studio practice in Asheville’s River Arts District, as well as through painting workshops that I teach in France, Ireland, Italy, and my studio. I have also taught drawing, painting, and 2D design classes at Western Carolina University where I received my Master of Fine Arts degree.