About the Artist

I am an artist from Central Mississippi.  I am heavily influenced by my surroundings and the natural beauty found in this world.  My two children and I live on the Ross Barnett Reservoir which is filled with life.  We can not drive a mile without seeing a deer or an alligator.  After graduating from Ole Miss with a degree in art and an emphasis in graphic design, I moved to Orlando, FL, where I worked my way up at a sign company to its production manager.  After a couple of years in Florida, I decided to move back to MS.  I found myself in Oxford, MS again, managing a sign company near the Ole Miss campus.  Teaching new employees every aspect of the sign making industry brought me joy.  I loved teaching them so I decided to get my teaching certification and go back to a studio setting as an art teacher.

For years, I painted marine life, mostly sport fish, and studied their habitats, diets and differences. My soul is always renewed by being near water or on the sea. There is something magical about being at that place where the land ends and the vastness of another world begins.  The life that lives under the waves is so unique and different from what is on land.  One of my favorite things to do in this world is snorkeling over a reef.

While home, I enjoy taking walks on trails, such as the Natchez Trace, which is a few feet from my home in Madison County. Central MS is full of trees.  Our soil and the abundance of sunlight here in MS is special.  We can support the growth of some seriously large trees that host an enormous amount of life.  I love all the lines that trees create in the sky and on the ground as the sun is lower on the horizon.  I try to capture that story often.

My newest work focuses on the state's apex predator, the American alligator, enjoying themselves by crashing the pools and environments of people. I started to notice that alligators, as scary as they can be, look like they are smiling.  When you think about it, they really live pretty great lives...swimming, sun bathing, eating fish and other animals.  I had this idea in my head of an alligator breaking into a backyard and hanging out on a diving board instead of a log.  As I was planning it out, I was already smiling. That painting made me laugh and smile.  It simply brought me joy.  Then, I noticed that it brought others joy.  I think a part of everyone wanted to be that alligator.  Later, I discovered the joy these gators brought to children when I showed them at a festival for the first time. I find so much joy and happiness coming up with the ideas for these paintings. I hope my newest work brings you joy as well, and they make your home or space a little happier.

Thank you for viewing my work and supporting my love for painting.

Honors and Awards:

• Named "The Jacksonian" by Jackson Free Press, Dec. 2016

• The University of Mississippi, Fall Schedule of Classes, cover design winner

• Selected by juried panels into various art festivals

  * including the Peter Anderson Art Festival in Ocean Springs, MS and Arts in the Pass in Pass Christian, MS

Studied Under:

 • Gary Walters

• Bill Beckwith

• Sheri Reith

• Ginny Chavis

• Ron Dale

• Paula Temple

• Robert Malone