   | Introduction
I was born and raised in West Virginia. I am married with two grown daughters. I graduated from Marshall University with a Masters Degree in Sociology.
I am a self- taught painter. I have always enjoyed painting and encouraged my daughters to express themselves through art also.
I paint primarily in acrylics. I also occasionally paint in oil but I prefer to paint using acrylics because acrylics dry quickly and I can manipulate acrylics to achieve the desired effects I am looking for.
Because of family obligations, school, and work I had not worked with my art for several years. One day, while sitting in my office I looked out the window and the trees out- side was filled with robins. One of my co-workers had a camera and she helped me take pictures, I was inspired again and started painting.
I get my inspiration for my paintings from my surrounding that catch my attention. The little blue- tailed lizards running around my house, the spider that lived in the butterfly bush in my backyard or the birds in the trees at work even the raccoon that showed up one day.
My family and I were vacationing with family in a little cabin in Hinton, West Virginia. We would go outside in the evenings, in the field outside the cabin, as far as you could see there were lighting bugs. The image of the lighting bugs glowing in the dark stuck with me and inspired my paintings “Evening Lights in Appalachia”. |
