About the Artist

I've had no formal training in drawing; I consider my talent a gift from God. (If you're interested, see my "Statement of Faith.")

Aside from some children's art classes at the old Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Art Institute, the only art class I've taken was a college course in oil painting to learn the technique, under Willis Guthrie, a student of Grant Wood.

My illustrations have appeared in Rockford Magazine, The Rockford Review, my three published books (Little Things, Responses, and Christian AND Lesbian: A Life in Progress), and various United Methodist curriculum materials.  I've designed programs for theatres in Maine (The Real Inspector Hound, West Side Story, Ain't Misbehavin', and Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians) and also for Rockford College in Illinois.

My work has been displayed at the Winnebago County (Illinois) Fair, the Wisconsin State Fair, several libraries in the Tampa-Hillsborough County Library System (Florida), and in one-person shows at the North Suburban Library District (Rockford, Illinois), Miles Memorial Hospital (Damariscotta, Maine), and Jones Intercable (Tampa, Florida).  Shortly after I came to the Tampa Bay area, I was privileged to be one of the artists who helped create the murals of manatees and other sea life for the Children's Advocacy Center of the Child Abuse Council.

I've always had a love for animals, and have drawn them ever since I could hold a crayon.  As a child, I copied the works of my favorite illustrators in the animal books I read.  I began drawing Pet Portraits in 1990, while living in mid-coast Maine.  Christine Welch, Veterinarian at the Damariscotta Veterinary Clinic, kindly loaned me many photos of animals she had owned or treated, so I could build a portfolio of examples of my work.  After moving to Florida and taking a "break" to work as a full-time librarian, I'm now retired and have time to return to drawing.