About Me

  I grew up in north Alabama where I received an art scholarship to a junior college but chose to study Business Administration at Birmingham-Southern College. I continued taking art classes throughout college but didn’t think I could make it as an artist and teaching was never an option.

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  Ten years after receiving my degree in business, I started my family and returned to school for a Master’s degree in Art Education (never say “never”). My media of choice at the time was large oil paintings of odd still-life objects seen from my two-year-old son’s point of view.

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  I then received a MA.E. degree in 1996 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and taught PK-12 visual art classes for 17 years in the Birmingham/Homewood area. I received a Ph.D. in 2013 in Educational Research from The University of Alabama with a desire to teach at the collegiate level. I began teaching Visual Arts and Arts Education classes at Troy University in 2013 and am still there at least for a few more years.

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  After a health scare in mid-2021, I needed something to help me de-stress so I went back to my first love….painting. I found my “center” again and it has made me a better teacher by practicing what I preaches. My love for painting fabric led me to look for images with lush fabrics and a sexy, retro-vibe. I’ve always been a

shoe-oholic but now that I’m older I can't wear the high heels of my younger days, so now I paint them. With the shoes, I look for the design quality of high-end footwear, but also the elegance of the occasion with which each heel could be worn.

 

  I currently live & teach in Troy, Alabama with my husband, Tom, and our two dogs labs, Sam and Max.