"I got my start in art probably the same way every other artist does: as soon as I could hold a crayon, drawing with anything that made a mark on anything that didn't move real fast. I drew probably the same thing every other young girl draws: horses. I wanted to be John James Audubon - ah, to have been among the first to see and paint this continent's wildlife! - But obviously there's only one of him. I still draw horses, and since I'm basically a critter lover, I paint animals. Winged, four-legged, hooves, claws, large, small - doesn't matter. If it's an animal, I'm fascinated and I gotta paint it. I use a palette knife in much of my art because it lets me create clean slashes of bold color and it really is a lot of fun. I sit down to a canvas, faced with the daunting task of getting the gorgeous vibrancy of an animal subject into oil paint; since this is basically impossible, I might as well enjoy the process of wasting paint enormously (which I do). I paint expressionistically, and the palette knife ensures that I don't get too fussy - which usually spells death to the work. I do my own research and reference collection in the beautiful wild spaces of the West; my husband is a wildlife videographer, and his work has influenced me to look for the paintable story, not just the paintable scene. There is no other way to capture the emotion and intensity of experiencing wildlife and wild places than firsthand. In addition, we have often been privileged to witness behavior we've never read about, and this original research is incredibly stimulating. While many wildlife artists focus on the big trophy male animals, I am often inspired to portray scenes and stories that are more commonly seen - moms and babes, or teenage males in unrequited lust - that sort of thing. I have been incredibly privileged to take home some really wonderful awards. I am most proud of two in particular. One was an Award of Excellence at my first Society of Animal Artists annual exhibition in September 2002, after just being juried into the Society (boasting members like Bob Kuhn, Robert Bateman, and Guy Coheleach) a few months earlier. The second was the Grand Prize at the 2002 Arts for the Parks. The painting that won, Illumination, was based on a magical encounter I had on the wild coastline of Katmai National Park in Alaska; we'd journeyed there via floatplane and boat to film grizzlies catching salmon. This particular bear spent an afternoon with us in rare sunshine; she was so pretty and so comfortable with our presence almost flirting with us, inviting us to play that I've found myself painting her more than anything else from that trip. In fact, another painting of her Bare Naked Lady was the piece that won my SAA Award of Excellence. Clearly there was something about her that made a connection for me, and I am much the richer for that experience. My artistic influences: Bob Kuhn, Carl Rungius, Richard Schmid, Wayne Thiebaud, Maynard Dixon, Nicolai Fechin, and many others along the way - art gods all!"

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