My Story…the shortish version.

At one time, I was a busy fiber and textile artist and instructor. I taught over 40 different types of adult classes and workshops as well as youth Art Camps and After School Art Programs. I also participated in group exhibits, art fairs, and was an active member of the local art guild. I proudly served as co-founder, board member, and sponsor of the Scotts Bluff Valley Fiber Arts Fair. At the same time, I worked as Program Manager and eventually Executive Director of West Nebraska Arts Center in Scottsbluff, NE, where we curated and offered 18 exhibits a year in two galleries.

After a major hip surgery and a very long recovery, I was no longer able to keep up that pace and had to make the difficult decision to leave it all behind.

At first, I felt ‘homeless’ and without purpose and direction. I had spent many rewarding years working long hours basically ‘eating, sleeping, and breathing’ art. I missed interacting with other artists. I missed my students. I missed the receptions and fundraisers and teaching.

I didn’t know what to do next. What I knew for sure, and what I had told many others over the years, is that art changes lives. I needed to get back to creating for myself and see where that would lead me. I began painting, collaging, and drawing to ease my pain and reset my mind and my heart while my body healed.

At first, I struggled to get my footing and kept getting hung up and overwhelmed at the idea of starting all over and what that SHOULD look like, but I knew I just wanted to make art and figure out the details later. So that’s what I did.

I began making LOTS of art…some pretty awful art and some okay art and everything in between. I tried ALL the things I was ever remotely interested in and explored.

Eventually I started seeing my own style emerge—something that felt new and familiar at the same time.

(if you’re interested in learning more about my ever-evolving process - visit my Studio Journal.)

Slowly I could feel the new path I was taking.

Fast forward 6 years, I now work from my home studio and have found my way into a new life which looks nothing like my crazy, busy old one. In fact, that seems like a lifetime ago.

The move towards fully embracing who I am creatively has meant embracing who I am personally, in ALL things.

Unconsciously, I think I have always tried to compartmentalize the different pieces of my life, which I thought made me a better wife, mother, daughter, friend, artist, employee and boss. Putting them altogether, finding my own creative purpose, has been the most important work I’ve ever done, and it HAS been WORK, but it’s also been a journey of discovery.

Through my art, I want to offer messages of encouragement, empowerment, and validation for myself and others.

Even though I don’t specifically paint landscapes, I am deeply influenced by the physical beauty of Nebraska, Wyoming, So. Dakota, and Colorado, all of which feel like home for different reasons, and therefore those places find their way into my work. I spend as much time as possible in nature—walking, hiking, taking photographs, riding my motorcycle, perusing the back roads, the Bluffs, the sprawling prairies, the Rocky Mountains, the Sandhills, and the Black Hills—always with my constant companions, my husband, Phil, and our sweet dog, Hazel. When I’m lucky, our daughter, Kendall, and granddog, Rio, join us on our adventures.

There is endless inspiration.

Art has trained my eyes to see the world intimately. It has transformed my life over and over again.

I’m truly grateful for this journey.