I was born in Pennsylvania and began drawing and painting at an early age, inspired and encouraged by the artistic work of several family members. My degrees were in the Visual Arts, focusing on painting and color theory, and I was mentored by Emory Bopp, a student of Josef Albers.

Initially, I was an educator teaching drawing and painting at university level. During my doctoral studies, I also taught courses in art history and humanities. Upon returning from my Fulbright Scholarship to Poland, I was out of sync with a normal teaching cycle, and I began my next career in the legal field, where I worked for 18 years in Washington, DC. I later moved from DC to Manhattan and became the Executive Assistant to the Director of the Guggenheim Museum. However, after 9/11, I retired from the museum world and returned full-time to my love of painting.

Initially, I focused on figurative and representational art. After struggling with a movement disorder that inhibits fine motor control, I turned my focus to non-objective painting. Two movements had a great influence on my art -- German Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism. Artists of both movements emphasized expressing feelings and ideas over representing reality, and their work is characterized by simplified forms and gestural marks or brushstrokes.

In my work, my process is to be as authentic and uninhibited as I can by incorporating gestural actions and mark making. My goal is to produce an emotional statement that viewers may find appealing or thought provoking or challenging.