I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. I have been drawing since I was aware I could hold a pencil. My parents saw that I had natural artistic ability and always encouraged me. My grandmother gave me my first set of oil paints when I was in elementary school. I won numerous awards in elementary school through high school and was doing portraiture commissions in high school which continued into my later years.
I had dreams of becoming a full time artist and studying at an art school but like a lot of young women, I married, had kids, went through a divorce and found myself raising kids and working full time so being able to paint and draw was set aside for many years. more..
Welcome to the Gallery
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In 1992 I visited Santa Fe, New Mexico and was so inspired by the beautiful art, the geography and the people that I felt compelled to pick up my drawing pencils and see where it would take me. Happily, I could still draw and concentrated using charcoal as my medium. I became quite proficient with it and my work was accepted in galleries in Park City, Utah, Salt Lake City Utah and in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. My charcoal drawings are in private collections around the united States and Europe as well as Japan. One of my drawings is in the private collection at the Utah State University Indian Center in Logan, Utah.
In 1994, wanting to expand my knowledge of medium, I enrolled in a privately owned art school near my home. There I met and studied with Sam Collett, who eventually became my husband. He was a gifted artist and taught painting, drawing as well as figurative drawing. He taught me how to paint with oil and pastel as well as new ways to look at the subject. At that point I was self taught and was happy to branch out and learn new things. He encouraged me to go back to school and take some courses in art at a community college in Salt Lake City. I learned so much and thrived in the academic environment. While taking classes, I worked mainly with oils and pastels which I loved and then started a watercolor class, a medium that I had never attempted. Unfortunately my father passed away at that time and I had to give up my studies to help my mom and never got back to watercolor painting.
In 1998 Sam and I visited Joseph, Oregon and fell in love with the area. We bought resort cabins at Wallowa Lake and became innkeepers, opened an art gallery and I opened a gift store. Again my art was set aside for another long period of time. We eventually sold the cabins and closed our businesses so Sam could paint full time. After a lot of stops and starts I got together with some artists and learned a little about watercolor painting. A couple of years ago I got to spend more time at it and finally got serious about it. The house we purchased at Wallowa Lake had limited space so watercolor was a good medium that would work in the space that I had available. My favorite subjects to paint are the animals and the beautiful scenery in NE Oregon.