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     My dream as a young child was to be an artist.  As I grew through my teens in Northern California my love for both drawing and painting intensified to the point that I spent a lot of my youth drawing portraits and such for friends,  family. and for myself.   I was infinitely blessed during all four years of high school through the guidance of my art teacher and most importantly mentor Arlan Welsh.  Arlan and his wife Ruth loved to travel (they still do) sparking an interest in all things foreign and distant.  He showed me how a person can both harness and hone the talents ones has been given, while developing them into usable skills.

   As I moved  around the country in my twenties , I took various art classes at different colleges and universities.  I spent from 1980 to 1995 as  a sign painter  in Dallas, Texas and then in Arizona.  In Dallas I met the love of my life, Peter, who also had traveled though many and diverse countries.  We  remodeled one old house and than built a new one together and proceeded to start a family.  For years I was mostly a stay at home Mom as our three children grew.  

     As the kids got older, I found more time to pursue my long held love for art.  I did some artwork for an archaeological site in Arizona, Casa Malpais located in Springerville Arizona.   A water color of Eagle Rock (35 X 45 inches), where it had been theorized that the inhabitants of  the  12th century pueblo had tethered eagles, now hangs in the Casa Malpais museum.  Upon moving back to Texas, to Sulphur Springs in 1996 I discovered a good market for commissioned portraits  in pencil, conte crayon, and charcoal.  From time to time I also taught art lessons and held painting workshops in the Studio my husband built.

      But I found myself longing to paint in oil a process that was frankly difficult when their were small children in the house as well as the constant coming and going of their teen years.  As our children grew and left, I found myself painting just about anything that would strike my fancy; just as long as I could obsess over the details.  Soon we began to travel more and I found myself more in love with castles, ruins, foreign landscapes and still life.  Though I love the look of a more impressionistic approach, the pleasure I derive from the tedious and intricate details forces me to a more realistic style.

     Now that my husband has retired we intend to increase  traveling adventures.  I thought it would be a good idea to include a blog sharing  some of those adventures as well as the pictures  I am able to take with my Canon Rebel T3i.  Any one of those pictures may be another potential oil painting in the making.

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Heather