I started painting as a child, and went on to study Fine Arts at the University of Colorado in Boulder. My interest in portraiture was ignited when my sister painted vivid scenarios in encaustic, from the family photo albums, for her BFA exhibition at the Rocky Mountain School of Design. I love family photographs. When I try to recapture them in a different media, the result feels like a distillation of the moment the shot was taken. I do not try to interpret the mood or personality of the people or contents in the image. The interpretation happens after I do my best to make a beautiful painting and it is viewed. By painting from cherished photographs, I hope to enshrine and illuminate the feelings and memories they hold.

My favorite medium is watercolor paint because its translucency is perfect for rendering the subtle light, shadows, soft lines, and skin tones in faces. I try to balance impressionistic marks and representational detail to create natural, intimate representations of my subjects.

Composite paintings from multiple photographs are a fun challenge and add another dimension to representing people. I especially enjoy mixing subjects with fantasy matter, as in the portrait of Cassie with the lion and unicorn. The painting of Tim and Brian on the Scottish golf course is a composite of three photographs with various desired qualities. I painted each of their faces from different photographs, and the background from another.