I was exposed to art at an early age. My mother was a textile designer and an art collector, later a patron. My father was involved in automotive design. Several of my uncles painted. We went to many art museums and exhibits growing up.
When my own children left the nest a few years ago I started to take art classes in the South Bay, at the Palos Verdes Art Center and Destination Art in Torrance.
Arlene Weinstock was my first teacher, she taught me the basics of color and value. I learned landscape technique with David Wolfram. Now I have the good fortune to learn portraiture with artist Oskar Laffont and he has been a phenomenal mentor and teacher. I work in oil and some acrylic.
Why I paint is simple. I paint things I like to look at, people I love, people and places I want to remember, and people I admire. I find joy in the great variety of humans and animals on this earth. I enjoy the process of really seeing a subject and capturing not only their physical attributes but perhaps a hint of their soul.