Intro

Here is an introduction of myself and my family. My husband, Joe and I have been married for almost fourteen years. We have four daughters, the oldest is Thalia (11,) Maggie (9,) Hazel (6,) and Elora (almost 2.) Sometimes, or most of the time, my hands are extremely full. There have been times where i haven’t been able to paint like i want to, but I have learned that i really need to make time for painting, even just for my own sanity! So, i spend most of my nights painting, while the children are sleeping.

I grew up in a very large family, (10 kids.) i feel like most of us have grown up to be very creative adults. We were allowed to make messes, and some of us would just draw and color to our hearts content. I am especially grateful for my brother, Jeff, who would get tons of paper and crayons, and set them up on the kitchen table. He would very kindly allow me to join him drawing heat people, haunted houses, Christmas trees, etc.

When i was in high school, i decided to just try and draw a picture of my grandmother. It turned out to look a lot like her, and it was so satisfying to do. Since then, i have been drawing seriously. i wanted to major in art and took as many art classes as I could. I started out with general studies at Salt Lake Community College, then i took a couple of years of to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. After i returned home from my mission, i started up at Utah State University. My plan was to major in art, but i had to apply into the program, and that scared me. I am so glad that i tried, because going to school there, and studying, learning, and practicing art were some of my most meaningful experiences. One doesn’t have to go to school to be an artist, but for me, it was just what i needed to lay a foundation for my art. I found that i really love painting figures, with a dose of landscape.

Portraits are my first love in art. I have done some really interesting portrait commissions, as well as portraits for the joy of painting. For the past couple of years, I have been collecting “found” old photos, and using them as reference for paintings (large and small.) (I admit that not all my photos are found, I do find a lot on Pinterest that I just can’t resist painting.) This is my main series that I am working on. I usually pick pictures of women, some of them are mothers, some our old, some are quite young. Painting these photos, gives me and amazing chance to get to know these women. Sometimes i wonder if these women see my paintings from heaven and are happy that i see their beauty. I don’t necessarily look for magazine ready models. I want to paint real people, who lived a real, true life: with trials, successes, joys, relationships, etc. I feel these women need to be seen and validated, and we need to remember them, and i hope they will remind the viewer of the past, of their ancestors, of women who have gone through life.

I will also mention my love of painting trees. i love finding old, gnarly trees. I paint them as if I am painting figures. They are not just trees, but they are alive and have been around for a long time.