My artwork is inspired by my love of the natural world, and all creatures great and small. My subject matter has included insects
and toads, dogs and giraffes, and many creatures in between. I do, however, concentrate mainly on birds and butterflies since these
are the animals I know and love best (aside from my two Shetland Sheepdogs, of course!). I have been an avid birder for over twenty
years and an equally avid butterflier for the last dozen. I have worked as a volunteer on numerous surveys of birds and butterflies
in New York State, and served as an officer or board member of my local Audubon chapter since 1985. I recently used both my birding
and artistic skills in connection with the second breeding bird atlas for New York, working as a volunteer in a number of survey blocks,
and professionally as one of the illustrators for the atlas publication.
My location in Schenectady, New York is centrally located
to wonderful natural areas such as the Adirondack Mountains, Long Island beaches and the shoreline of Lake Ontario. Encounters with
animals in these and other settings are what inspire me to draw and paint. I carry my camera, binoculars and spotting scope with me
on field trips, so that I can observe and document wildlife whenever I am in the field. I use the resulting photographs and experiences
to create works in my studio using various combinations of graphite, watercolor and colored pencil.
I have traveled extensively in North America, and have made several trips to the neo-tropics. In 1996 I visited the Antarctic Peninsula, and in 2008, northern Tanzania—awe-inspiring places in every way. As Barry Lopez wrote in Arctic Dreams, I am “full of appreciation for all that I have seen”. My desire to share this appreciation and sense of wonder in the natural world helps me bring my favorite subjects to life on paper. I strive to create artwork that captures the character and beauty of the creatures I love.
Selected Exhibits:
Organization Memberships:
Awards and Acheivements: