BIO
I am an Atlanta native and who has returned after a decade in Savannah teaching at Georgia Southern University. I started making art because when I listen to music I see all kinds of imagery, and I wanted to try and get it out and share it. It’s always been joyful to me to make things and express myself. The current that runs between the eye, the hand, the world and imagination, makes me feel alive and well in the world. It's also been a struggle in many ways—prioritizing these things is going against the grain. Its also a struggle to figure out who you are and how to say that in paint. I love to feel part of the stream of creativity that extends in all directions—I drink from it and put stuff back in it. Being a woman, mother and daughter is central to my sensibilities as an artist, and beauty is like a compass for my spiritual life.
The arts have been a lifeline for me for as long as I can remember. Music was my first anchor and confidante. Making art, creative writing, and playing instruments were the things that lit me up at school. They provided so much comfort when I was coming of age, making me feel whole when nothing else did.
A painting is a piece of magic and time travel—a relic of history, stamped at a certain time, and also fully of this moment. Art is for everybody and weaves us all together when we can't see how we belong or fit. It’s a road map when we don’t know how to find our way forward. It is a unique way of knowing and being that get to the very essence of what it is to be human.
A lot of my paintings are about my daughter or mother, our home and my neighborhood. I just painted these things on instinct as a way of trying to not miss my life. I am easily overwhelmed, or too busy, which can distract me from the awe I feel when I slow down. So I’ve turned to painting like meditation, or a way to dance with paint over the surfaces of all that I love. Its like I have to pull away from everything to enter it more fully. There is symbolism in each painting too, but mostly it’s a feeling that I’m going after each time—one that honors mystery.
Career highlights include being a university professor for over 20 years, the creation of the 49 portraits project--a group portrait memorial in response to the Pulse nightclub attacks, work at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History as part of the 2025 Art X Climate exhibition, participating in international installations through the Art in Embassies program, group shows at museums such as the Phillips collection in Washington, DC and solo exhibitions at many College and private galleries throughout the US.