I am a graphic designer by trade and actually fairly new to the painting world. I did not start painting until about ten years ago. I was “trained on the board” and always had to work in black and white and imagine the color part in my head. When I finally got my hands on some paint, I was simply overwhelmed with joy! I was like a kid with a new toy. I took lots of drawing, design, printing (off-set and screen printing), fiber and printmaking (etching, lithography, wood cut and block printing) classes in college, but never painting. I never considered myself a real artist, because I was not a painter. I’m not sure where I picked up that idea, but it has always stayed with me for some reason. Art has been a part of my life in one way or another since I can remember. As a child, I was always messing around with something: fabric scraps from my mom’s projects, macramé, candles, plaster, wax, mosaics, you name it and I wanted to try it. And I love taking photographs. I was intrigued in Junior High when we finally got to take real art classes. The girls took Home Economics and the boys took Shop and got to use the machinery. I always hated the fact I could never take shop just because I was a girl. I love using tools now and I bet if I had learned at a younger age, I’d be even handier than I already am! I am inspired by lots of different things in my daily life. Since I work in an art supply store, I meet tons of talent daily and learn about new processes to try. I love to experiment with new products or use old products in new ways. It seems that I try something new weekly! I read a ton of art books and magazines and sometimes spend hours on the Internet researching a specific process. Other times I just get the supplies I think I’ll need and dive right in and create my own processes!
Mainly I work in acrylic and collage, but most recently I have been playing with encaustic and collage. I also like to sew, make my own stamps creating my own papers and fabrics to be used in my projects. I usually have several projects going at the same time and I find working in one medium makes me more excited when I tackle a different one…or maybe it helps me to look at each medium with new
possibilities.
I am very fortunate to be married to an artist, so I don’t need to waste any explanation time with him. My husband, Joe, gets it and so do I. We enjoy going to gallery openings together and working together in our studio. We have a very fun and comfortable life and are very grateful to be surrounded by positive and creative friends that help influence our love of art and the good life! We love good music, good food and good art.
EDUCATION:
Bachelor of Arts in Fine and Applied Arts
Central
Michigan
University
,
Mount Pleasant
,
MI
Major: Fine and Applied Arts with Design and Printmaking
concentration
INFLUENTIAL
WORKSHOPS:
Ann Baldwin –
Pasadena
,
CA
and
Raleigh
,
NC
Pat Dews –
Raleigh
,
NC
Robert Burridge –
Raleigh
,
NC
Sterling
Edwards –
Raleigh
,
NC
Laura Moriarty –
Kingston
,
NY
Cynthia Winika –
Kingston
,
NY
Ongoing Workshops – Jerry’s Artarama and Art of the
Carolinas
GROUP SHOWS:
Elements, The Seam Shoppe,
Key West
, 2012
Uppercrust Bakery,
Sharon
and Joe DiGiulio, March, April, 2011
Artist Alley, “Take 25” Southern Pines, March, 2011
Introduction to Encaustic -3 days,
Traverse City
, 2012
Jerry’s Artarama, 2011:
Introduction to Encaustic
Introduction to Linoleum Carving and Printing
Painting on Black Fabric with Lumiere Paints
Introduction to Dry Point on Plastic
Fun with Acrylic Image Transfers
Creative Collage Techniques
The Altered Square
Carving Stamps and Printing on Paper
Collage Therapy – 2 days –
Sanford
, 2011
Jerry’s Artarama, 2010:
Collage - Adding Personal Content
Creative Collage Techniques
Linoleum Carving
Painting on Paper and Fabric
Collage Therapy in
Key West
, 2010
Cypress
of
Raleigh
, 2010
Making Your Own Stamps
Creative Collage Techniques
Jerry’s Artarama, 2009
Collage Techniques for the Beginner
Collage – Adding Interest
Collage – Pulling it all Together
Contagious Collage – the Complete Package
DEMONSTRATIONS:
Collage, Encaustic, Artist Trading Cards, Lumiere Paint,
Painting and Stamping Your Own Decorative Papers and Fabrics, Creating Your Own
Stamps, Image Transfers and more…
Visual Art Exchange, 2012
Wakefield
HS, 2012
Carolina
Mixed Media Art Guild 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
