MY STORY

I’m a representational painter based in Austin, Texas, where I live with my husband and our four children. I work primarily in oil using the mische technique, an indirect painting method with its roots in the Renaissance. I also work in watercolor, acrylic, and on textile-based surfaces, often incorporating handmade paper and fiber elements. In addition to my studio practice, I’m a teacher, writer, and longtime advocate for making art accessible to underserved and disabled communities.

At university, I studied architecture and urban planning, earning a masters degree in each discipline from the University at Buffalo, NY. My education gave me a deep appreciation for design, tools that still serve me every day in the studio. It also taught me to recognize the beauty of well-made things. A devotion that remains at the heart of my work today.

After graduating in 1994, I moved to San Francisco to work in urban and environmental design. Four years later, I relocated to New Mexico where my professional work concentrated on designing learning environments for children. I also taught architecture at the University of New Mexico.

In 1999, I moved again. This time to New York City to pursue my art career seriously. I traveled to Europe in 2001 to received direct training in the Mische Technique from Philip Rubinov Jacobson, a student of Ernst Fuchs. The technique and the artists I met through it became central to my identity as a painter.

By 2003, I was exhibiting widely in New York City and internationally with the Society for Art of Imagination, founded by Brigid Marlin, including shows in London, Scotland, Miami, Brooklyn, and Florence. During this time I also briefly studied with Ernst Fuchs, stayed at Brigid Marlin’s home, and helped install the Art of Imagination exhibition at Cork Street Gallery in London.

That same year, I also worked closely with Yuko Nii and Terrance Lindall during the Brave Destiny exhibition, the largest exhibition of living artists working in Surrealism, Visionary art, and Magic Realism, at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center in Brooklyn. Over 500 artists participated and my painting, 'Betwixt and Between' was honored with the Brave Destiny Award of Excellence.

Five years into living the artist’s dream in New York City, I became pregnant with our first child. By 2009, our family had grown to six. Our children have medical and developmental needs, and that season of life led me to pause my studio practice to become a full-time caregiver, homeschool educator, and advocate for their health, learning, and development.

During the years when my children were young and their medical needs were high, I turned my creative focus to the fabric arts: sewing, quilting, weaving, felting, doll making. These were projects I could carry with me into waiting rooms and work on sporadically. I made hundreds of hand-made objects between 2004 and 2019.

During our homeschool years, our curriculum was deeply influenced by Waldorf education and Anthroposophy, the spiritual philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner. I also studied Curative Education, Steiner’s holistic approach to working with people with disabilities. These philosophies became foundational to how I approached and adapted my teaching. When combined with my arts knowledge, I made our lessons come alive.

Adapting art projects to meet the special needs of my children eventually evolved into a teaching practice I now share with the wider special needs community. It remains a major part of my studio practice and is work that is incredibly close to my heart.

After fifteen years solely focused on my children, I returned to my personal studio practice. Two years later in 2022, I had my first solo exhibition, Reemergence, at Assemblage Contemporary Craftsman Gallery in Buda, Texas. Since then, I’ve completed over 150 paintings, and exhibited in over 30 shows both across Texas and nationally.

In 2025, I will teach my first Mische Technique workshop, and will have my second solo exhibition, both in Central Texas.

I believe that any practice of art, no matter the form or skill level, carries the potential to heal, connect, and transform. I have experienced this for myself and have witnessed it in my students.

As I continue to expand both my art practice and my teaching, I regularly dance between the studio, the classroom, and my family. It’s a rhythm shaped by love, care, and a deep commitment to art.