Artist Bio

Creating art has been my main interest all of my life. After working in several other professions, I always returned to art. Early years I spent in a small farming town on the northern border of Iowa.  Our family moved to Ogden, Utah, where I graduated from Ben Lomond High School.  I won an art scholarship to Pepperdine University in California.  One semester I attended the University of Guadalajara, Mexico before graduating from Weber State College with a BA in art. 

Teaching English in an elementary school in the Pacific Northwest was interesting where there were numerous Native-American tribes. After returning to Utah, I married a history teacher, and we were blessed with twin girls. I taught junior high art; and gave private art lessons to 10 to 12-year-old kids.  I also taught classes for children at Eccles Community Art Center.  I showed my paintings in that gallery over the years. 

 Art therapy for the state’s mental health department was a fun job, helping challenged adults who needed care during the day.  A few of them had been in jail, others drug addicted.  Creating art, making something beautiful was gratifying for them.  I also taught painting classes to a group of older people through Ogden City Schools later at a nursing home. 

Making a career change, I attended court reporting school for three years in Murray, Utah then worked in 2nd District Court in Salt Lake City.  I got to know many different organizations such as the Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the Families Alive meetings at Weber State University by reporting their conferences.  These experiences taught me the importance of art in all of our daily lives, and that art has great healing power. 

I joined the National Ephemera Society about 20 years ago, as I have been an art collector all of my life.  I presented a show of old advertising at the Weber County Library, then gave a radio interview.  The beautiful and sometimes grotesque images of the past tell a story about our country’s history better than most textbooks.  I also participated in many ephemera shows, selling my historical paper collection.   

I show (and sell) my paintings and art/ephemera collection at several Antique stores on Historic 25th Street (Utah) and in several antique stores in Souther California. I’m happy to be a member of the Carlsbad Oceanside Art League, a lovely gallery to show my artwork. I won a blue ribbon first place for a film noir oil painting.