MY WORK
My first love was John Singer Sargent. The first time I saw one of his paintings in person, it was huge and hung high on the wall. The only part I could get close to was the bottom, where a wine glass sat on a table. Up close, I realized it was painted with just a few confident strokes. I turned to my husband and whispered, “That’s what I want to do — I want to suggest things.”
That moment never left me. Over time I’ve realized that ALL painting is really just suggestion — beautiful lies told with a hairy stick dipped in colored goop.
I call my paintings poems. I’m drawn to ordinary, everyday scenes and find deep joy in reducing them to their essence using chunky, expressive strokes. To me, a few well-placed marks are far more interesting than a detailed dissertation.
Still life is my greatest passion. I’m captivated by the endless color possibilities and the quiet power of arranging and rearranging objects until everything feels exactly right. That said, I also paint animals, landscapes, cityscapes, neighborhood scenes, portraits, and figures with equal pleasure. I enjoy exploring abstraction and collage as well, and I regularly dabble in other media such as gouache, watercolor, and acrylic.
Someone once told me that everyone has something that makes them lose all track of time. For me, that’s art. When I’m truly in the zone, the best sessions become what I affectionately call “paint-gasms.” : )
MY STORY
I grew up in a small town in Texas, in a homemade dome house, along with 3 siblings, cats, goats, chickens, prickly pear cactus and fire ants. Our parents encouraged us to do what we love. They said, “You may never be rich, but you’ll be happy.” My love was always art.
I attended the University of Texas in Austin. Unfortunately my art professors were so focused on the concept behind art that they never taught us anything useful, like HOW to draw/paint/sell — you name it. Nevertheless, I graduated in 2000.
I met and married my husband (David) my last year of college (acquiring 2 step-daughters in the process, Sophie and Maddie). David kindly supported me and my art after graduation, and I spent about 5 years doing one giant bad painting after another (since one thing I did learn in college was you had to paint big or go home), and being thoroughly depressed about it.
Apparently I learned a bit on my own through trial and error, because eventually I got into my favorite gallery in Austin, TX. Unfortunately I never earned what could be considered a living (even later, when I was in 7 galleries!). In 2005 we adopted our son, Jacob (below, left, 5 days old). I didn’t paint much for a little while, until he was 1½ and a friend sent me an article about daily painting.
The idea was to do one small painting each day, post it on a blog, and sell it in auction. I started painting during Jacob’s naps, and quickly fell in love with the process! I slowly built up a following and started selling my daily paintings. I was finally making a living with my art! After about 6 months I got my first invitation to teach, then my second, and soon had sold-out workshops all over the US and Canada.
In 2006, my husband and I kicked off Daily Paintworks with a handful of daily painters, mostly friends of mine. It’s been amazing to watch it grow into the platform it is now, full of talented artists from around the world sharing and selling their art. David is the full time CEO, support person, & janitor, and I do social media, outreach & snacks.
In 2011, a forest fire took our house — a tough chapter, but we were carried through it by the amazing support of friends, family, and strangers alike. We're deeply grateful! Now we reside in the very beautiful Missoula, MT.
In 2014 I wrote an instructional book called Daily Painting, available through Amazon. I teach a few workshops a year. I also have a collection of ArtBytes (affordable online tutorials) for purchase (some are free - check them out). Here are some answers to frequently asked questions.
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