Artist Statement

Although my paintings are representational, the size and composition give them a contemporary feel. The canvases are painterly; I usually have four to five layers of paint on the canvas by the time a painting is finished. The subjects I paint include still life, portraiture, architecture and plein air landscape, but I enjoy painting flowers the most. I like the versatility for composition and color they provide.

The temporal quality of flowers makes them even more appealing. They possess what the Japanese refer to as “mono no aware” which is best described as a brief, transcendent connection to beauty. There are wonderful moments for a painter when the separateness between the self and what is observed becomes lost. I think Georgia O’Keefe best described this when she said “when you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment.”

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SELECTED SHOWS
and ACTIVITIES

 2006

Tucson Pima Arts Council, Arts Educator of the Year Lumie Award

2005

Selected artist, Tucson Public Art, Lawrence Community Center
Two commissions, City of Phoenix Public Art, Sky Harbor Airport
Selected artist, Tucson NorthwestMedical Center
Inductee, Sunnyside School District Hall of Fame

2004

Keynote Speaker, Michigan Art Education Association State Conference
Watercolor Workshop Presenter, Laramie Community College, Cheyenne Wyoming
Arizona Teacher of the Year, Top Ten Finalist

2003

Capturing the Wild, Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, Arizona
Art for Music, Tucson Symphony Benefit, painted guitar

2002

Ready, Set, D’Art, Tucson Museum of Art
Five Person Show, El Presidio Gallery
The Desert After Dark, Tohono Chul Park, Tucson, Arizona

2001

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago Scholarship Recipient, Teacher Institute in Contemporary Art: Art and Technology, June 16-June 23, 2001

In Celebration: A Century of Arizona Women Artists, Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wickenburg, Arizona
In Celebration, Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, Arizona
Four Person Show, El Presidio Gallery, Tucson, Arizona
Guest Presenter, Michigan Art Education State Conference, Grand Rapids

2000

Artist Residency, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago at Oxbow, June, 2000
In the Garden, Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix
Ready, Set, d’Art, Tucson Museum of Art
Group Show, El Presidio Gallery, Tucson, Arizona

1999

Celebrate Art, Arizona Cancer Benefit
Four Person Show, El Presidio Gallery, Tucson, Arizona

1998

Garden of Delight, Two-Woman Show, Vanier Fine Art, Scottsdale, Arizona
Ready, Set, d’Art, Tucson Museum of Art
Four Person Show, El Presidio Gallery, Tucson, Arizona
Featured Artist, University of Arizona Alumni Show
Twenty-ninth Annual Mountain Oyster Club Contemporary Western Art Show, Tucson, Arizona

1997

Oil Painters of America Juried Show, Quast Galleries, Taos New Mexico
Arizona Biennial, Tucson Museum of Art
Four Person Show, El Presidio Gallery
Twenty-eighth Annual Mountain Oyster Club Contemporary Western Art Show, Tucson, Arizona1996
Women Artists and the West, Tucson Museum of Art
Connections, Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona
Bloom, Tohono Chul Park Exhibit Hall, Tucson
Ready, Set, d’Art, Tucson Museum of Art
Four Person Show, El Presidio Gallery, Tucson, Arizona
Twenty-seventh Annual Mountain Oyster Club Contemporary Western Art Show, Tucson, Arizona

1995

Top 200, National Arts for the Parks, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Oil Painters of America Juried Show, Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio
Southwest Art in the Wine Country, Lee Youngman Gallery, Calistoga
Tucson A-Z, Tohono Chul Park Exhibit Hall, Tucson
Twenty-sixth Annual Mountain Oyster Club Contemporary Western Art Show, Tucson, Arizona

1994

Twenty-sixth Annual Mountain Oyster Club Contemporary Western Art Show, Tucson, Arizona

1993

Four Person Show, El Presidio Gallery

1992

At Home in Tucson, Tucson Museum of Art

1991

Fine Art for Fine Causes, Tucson Museum of Art
Four Person Show, El Presidio Gallery

FEATURES AND
PUBLICATIONS

Arizona Chamber Music Festival Poster, 1994-2006
Poster Artist, the 2000 Fourth Avenue Winter Street Fair
Exploring Color, Nita Leland, Northlight, 1998
Tucson Quick Guide, Cover Artist, 1998
Creative Inspirations, Rockport /Northlight, 1997
The Best of Oil Painting, Rockport/Northlight, 1996
Arts Journal, KOLD News, Patty Weiss, 1996
Preview, Tucson Museum of Art, Summer, 1992
Shades of Life, Tucson Home and Garden, April/May 1992
Stuck at the Airport? Then Look at the Art, New York Times, December 15, 1991
Art Life, Fall/Winter 1991, Cover Artist
Artist Spotlight, Arizona Illustrated, Michael Boyle, KUAT, 1990

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Arts, 1978, University of Arizona
Major: Education/Social Studies
Major: Fine Art, 1985

Collections include Tucson International Airport, Tucson Museum of Art, Sky Harbor Airport, Sonoma State University, National Bank of Tucson, Tucson Northwest Medical Center.

Bio