The process of painting is sheer joy for me. At the heart of each painting is observation, an essential skill for both scientists and painters. My training and career as a marine biologist for 17 years has influenced this skill. Looking at the world through the eyes of a painter is an amazing experience. The subtle variation of light and color on shape and structure is compelling. The intellectual challenge is figuring out how to translate the essence of the image onto paper or canvas. For me this entire process is exciting. Plus I love being outdoors and with painting I have a great excuse to spend unlimited time outside...to walk, look, listen and wonder.

I started painting very seriously after a unique experience in 1995. I was in the small Danish fishing village of Skagen, having traveled there as a side trip from a marine science conference I attended. For some reason, the colors of the crisp blue sky, the bright orange tiled-roof houses with strings of white fish hanging outside to dry, the golden sand dunes and luminous green beach grass all produced in me an immediate desire to paint and experiment with color. As it turns out, Skagen was historically an artists' colony in the late 1800's, and painters flocked to the area enamored with "the unique light". This sounds like Provence, but surely the weather is a bit more dramatic in Skagen. I look forward to hosting a painting workshop in Skagen someday.

My work could be categorized as impressionistic yet I lean toward minimalism, preferring simplification of shape and a clean, fresh palette. Recently I have been experimenting with charcoal worked into my acrylic pieces to help neutralize some color and I love the effect. I paint quickly and often complete multiple paintings in one session, although living with each piece afterwards is essential for fine tuning. Currently I am interested in creating slightly abstracted views of realistic images, particularly those images unique to Sonoma County. I feel this landscape is precious and forever changing. I like to think I can document some of both place and time in my work.