ABOUT THE ARTIST

Portraiture in all of its forms challenges me to capture some aspect of the sitter's personality. My first portrait at age sixteen was an oil painting of my father in a relaxed  reflective mode. A likeness emerged naturally and revealed a certain familiar repose of his very own. It became a cherished memento in my family.

My education culminated in an MFA from Tulane University in 1987. Later I served as Curator of Education for Outreach at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Following this I was involved in a comprehensive arts program in the New Orleans Public schools for several years. Working with children has been rewarding and inspiring. Children bring their own freshness and lack of inhibition to the artistic process and continually demonstrate a unique interpretation of the world around them.

My retirement came soon after Katrina. I found an inspiring teacher at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Art under Auseklis Ozols, an outstanding teacher and practitioner of the classical techniques of drawing and painting. This was a time of quiet focus and a reawakening of my desire to create art in its many forms. I received the Gwendolyn Laan Ozols Award while there and have been working to realize the best in my ability since that time.