My earliest memories are of visiting the Toledo Museum of Art, looking at favorite paintings by Velasquez, Courbet, Van Gogh, and Degas. Later, I attended the TMA for my undergraduate degree. I was a student in Diana Attie’s famous “Anatomy Academy” and also studied painting with Linda Ames-Bell.
In 1992, I completed the MFA program in Medical/Biological Illustration at the University of Michigan. The late Gerald P. Hodge, a reknowned medical illustrator, taught pen and ink, carbon dust, gouache, and trompe l’oeil techniques. We drew in the gross anatomy lab and surgical suites. I studied botanical illustration in traditional crowquill pen and ink with Karin Douthit, and after graduation, she was my mentor as I worked on botanical assignments in her office.
As an Adjunct Assistant Professor, I taught my own Anatomy Academy to U of M undergraduates, as well as an Introduction to Scientific Illustration. For the graduate students, I taught anatomical drawing in the Gross Lab, and I was a teaching assistant for Dental Gross Anatomy.
In 1996, I moved to Portland, Oregon, where for 28 years, I worked as a health education graphic designer at various institutions. Now, as a retiree, I am able to paint and draw whatever I like! Currently, I am shifting from watercolor and graphite to egg tempera and silverpoint.
The subjects I paint and draw include:
- Botanical studies — native plant species preferred
- Skulls and bones — and occasional roadkill
- Landscapes — pocket sketching on vacation
- Figure drawing — and portraits
Pinus lambertiana Sugar Pine cone
Castilleja affinis ssp litoralis Coast Indian Paintbrush
Chicory in egg tempera
Grapes done in Photoshop for a grapeseed oil label
Lophura leucomelanos, Kalij pheasant drawn from a very old stuffed specimen
This was a little shrew who met her end on Bear Creek Road, Carson, Wash.
Pinus lambertiana, Sugar Pine Cones (I, II, III)
Oil on canvas at Troutdale Art Center