"Art enriches lives whether one is the artist creating or the viewer being moved by the created art. My first professional painting lessons were at age twelve at the Orlando School of Art with Ralph Bagley…what a profound impact that brief experience has had on my understanding of how to create the paintings I wanted to see! I still have my original portfolio. Later in life I learned the techniques of the Old Masters through Tom W. Sadler, an award winning painter. Most of my studio time today is devoted to commissioned portraits, landscapes and abstracts. One day a week I devote to private lessons for painters. In addition, I participate weekly in Plein Air outings with the Florida Painters Group in Orlando. In 2012, I founded the Mount Dora Plein Air Painters and meet with that group several times a year for special events. Plein Air painting is a French derived term simply meaning 'to paint outdoors'. The invention of the metal paint tube enabled artists to easily carry their materials outside and enjoy capturing the effects of light on everyday scenes. Today there is a resurgence of painters recognizing the benefits of painting from life rather than photographs. Working as an in-painter part-time on damaged old paintings in a Conservation studio was another enjoyable benefit of understanding the techniques of indirect painting. Interspersed are visits to Museums, reading art related books and magazines and organizing Quick Draw painting events for the Mount Dora Center for the Arts. I'm grateful to my former mentors and to my husband, Don and all my family for supporting me in a quest to portray the beauty God bestows on us every day."