I was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, lived for many years in Los Angeles, and in 2002, moved to Lake Arrowhead, California, with my husband and 5 cats.

I received my art training from the University of New Orleans and also from Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles, where I earned a BA in Fine and Studio Arts. I was awarded several art scholarships, as well as receiving the Eugene Escallier Foreign Study Award, a grant to conduct independent research in places where Western Civilization was born. In the work-study program, I spent 3 years photographing, mounting, and archiving thousands of slides which were used in Art History lectures and classes at Loyola Marymount University.

I owned a record store for 20 years in Los Angeles, until I closed it and moved to Lake Arrowhead. Relocating to Lake Arrowhead has profoundly influenced the subject matter of my paintings. I had traditionally painted the female figure and commissioned portraits, almost exclusively. Once I was settled, I found myself compelled to try and capture the wonder of the mountain environment. Landscapes, which had never figured in my work previously, began to flow forth from my brush. Soon, there were bears, then fairies, and even squirrels!