I was born in Chattanooga TN, and raised in Ohio by my grandmother. As the only child in the family, I spent hours drawing, and, when I discovered color, it opened up a whole world for me! I spent a great deal of time studying the "Old Masters" paintings at the Cleveland Art Museum. Taking art lessons was out of the question. When all my friends were going to dances or to the movies, I was working and trying to save money to buy my paints. Back then, I could buy a tube of paint for 75 cents, but back then that was a great deal of money. It took me a while to save enough for my basic paints.

Every afternoon, my grandmother would work on piecing together her quilt; my job was to pick out all the matching colors and patterns. It was a chore which I loved. I was fascinated with all the different patterns and colors. Every Wednesday, all my grandmother's friends would come over and piece together a quilt. I always looked forward to those Wednesdays. I knew that there were going to be cookies and milk served and great stories told. When I started to teach myself to paint, I developed my own style and subject matter. It took me hours as a teenager, and my paintings still had no resemblance to the "Old Masters" paintings. Needless to say, I was very unhappy with the type of painting I was doing. I never gave up, however, because my grandmother always told me that, with perseverance, I could do anything. She was right, of course, and today I thank God for my unique style.

After marriage and years of concentrating my energies on child rearing, I again began devoting myself to my art. I chose oil because of its brilliant colors and flexibility. I am a night painter, and I keep two paintings in progress at all times. My family and I travel throughout the South taking photographs of old farmhouses, which are usually abandoned and falling down. I build them back up and put the families back in them. On those old farms, a great deal of love and beauty went into the way families lived and worked together. I hope that, through my paintings, the viewer will get a feeling of great harmony and nostalgia.