About the Artist

I have always wanted to represent the world as I see it—through quiet observation, subtle light, and the emotional tone that lives in everyday moments. Drawing and painting in classical traditions—like the Bargue method or sight-size drawing—opens a doorway to deeper contemplation, inviting a slower, more intentional way of seeing and rendering the world. This practice allows me to connect more fully with the world around me and share that sense of reflection with others. Through it, I hope to offer others a sense of curiosity, delight, peace, and transcendence.

I spent my first 14 years in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, in a home full of creative spirit. My father, Richard, was an accomplished amateur oil painter. My mother, Alice, gave me the ability to derive pleasure from the small things in life, as she delighted in rainy-day walks and encouraged my interests without judgment. I started drawing and painting as a child. I majored in art in college and earned a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art.  Soon after graduation, I moved out to California to study photography in the MFA program at Mills College in Oakland. Photography appealed to me because it offered immediacy and clarity—qualities I had longed for when struggling to express my vision through drawing. That experience continues to inform the way I see light and composition in my current work.

Concerned about making a living as an artist, I pursued a more stable path—though it felt like tucking away a part of myself I wasn’t sure I’d get back. Drawn to helping people overcome learning challenges, I became a learning disabilities specialist and dyslexia therapist—a role that deepened my appreciation for individualized instruction and reinforced my belief that every learner can improve with the right guidance and structure.

In 2014, I took a watercolor workshop with Irena Roman at MassArt, where I rediscovered the joy of painting and became determined to rebuild my drawing skills. At the Worcester Art Museum School I met Jo Ellen Reinhardt, founder of the New England School of Fine Art. She helped me understand how to break the drawing process into manageable, learnable steps. I studied with Jo Ellen full time in the summers and in evening and weekend classes during the school year. The classical approach helped me draw with greater precision than I had ever imagined possible.

In 2018, I retired from public school teaching and began to devote my days to drawing and painting. After relocating to the Boston area, I continued my studies at the Academy of Realist Art in Boston, where I refined my technique and continued to deepen my understanding of academic drawing methods that now shape my teaching and studio practice.

Today, I live and work in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I teach workshops, offer private instruction, and mentor aspiring artists. It gives me great joy to pass on the guidance I received—to see someone’s eyes light up when they finally capture what they see, and to help them create the drawings they once thought were out of reach.