I've always created. Spending long days in the saddle as a child, I would "make pictures" by framing the landscape and livestock with my hands, long before I learned it was a composition tool.  

 

Born in Sheridan, Wyoming, I was raised in Montana (and later Wyoming) in a family who ranched in the "old ways."  We spent summers in Montana settings reminiscent of CM Russell paintings, with a mess-wagon, tents and teepees and a rope corral.  Being immersed in nature, far from modern distractions, I learned to study and appreciate the world around me.  I've always loved animals, and livestock figures prominently in both my memories and my paintings.

 

My lack of formal art training- a year and a half of junior college in the 80's- is supplemented with occasional workshops, constant study of my surroundings, and learning from artist friends.  My husband, Terry, and I have been married 32 years and have two talented, grown children and a wonderful daughter-in-law, who all make us very proud.  We live at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains near the Montana line in Dayton, Wyoming.   I believe painting is an activity everyone should try, and I teach fun, two-hour workshops to share the fun of painting with community members in Wyoming and Montana, and as far away as Arizona and Zambia, Africa.