What becomes of a disillusioned, rebellious daughter that has her mother's flair for drawing and an intense fascination for every species in the animal kingdom?

I grew up next to Mount Vernon along the Potomac River, south of Alexandria, Virginia. My lunch money often went for bus fare to the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. (Food for the soul vs. Food for the stomach). My mother not only provided me the means to express myself, she also allowed me the freedom to pursue my art.

The subjects of my first paintings were no doubt the vast menagerie of animals that found refuge with my two sisters and me. I started selling commissioned portraits of pets 25 years ago. The subjects of most of my recent paintings are the animal inhabitants of the Shenandoah Valley where I now reside.