I have been working in pastels and oils for fifteen many years. My work can be classified as expressive realism with a representational approach. I have a special love for portraits, but my work also includes still life and scenes that include people. I love to capture expression through a person’s eyes. My most meaningful paintings portray subjects which hold for me emotional significance. This can be done through portraits, still life or landscapes.

As a child I have always been interested in art. I loved to draw and I would doodle in my notebooks at school all the time. As a schoolteacher, I made use of my artistic ability in the classroom. It wasn’t until my early retirement, though, that I pursued painting seriously. My first introduction to painting was at U.S.L. I participated in the Gumbo U program, two semesters of drawing with Elmo Morgan, and several more hours toward an art degree. Some of my other teachers included Oscar Artese, Bobby Houston, Pat Soper and Marta Fielding. I also have spent considerable time reading and studying art on my own. I have also attended numerous workshops, including some with Joyce Nagel, Sally Strand, Christina Debarry and Ann Warner.

Organizations to which I belong have belonged include the Degas Pastel Society of America, the Baton Rouge Art Association and the Breaux Bridge Art Walk Association. I am also affiliated with the website “art-exchange.com” .

My work has been displayed in numerous places such as exhibits at Teche Federal Bank of Lafayette, the City Club of Lafayette, Gallery Angelle’s, the Breaux Bridge Artwalk, Café des Amis in Breaux Bridge, and Ursuline Academy in New Orleans. I have donated a number of pieces to charitable organizations such as Kent Desormeaux’s fundraiser for the Women’s Center in Lafayette, Ursuline Academy,

Hospice and Faith House. I have also exhibited in a juried show sponsored by the Lafayette Art Association. An earlier accomplishment was to win the sweepstakes award at the Sugar Cane Festival in New Iberia. I also designed the cover for the Acadiana Symphony League’s “Symphony Suppers” brochures. I have designed the cover for the Lafayette Theresian’s Annual Retreat for Women,

which involves 500 women each year. Recently, I designed and painted the cover for a well-known author.