About Me
My personal journey as an artist began in childhood. Born and raised in Grand Island, Nebraska, I had an aptitude for art from an early age – And a love for realism even at the age of five. Entering a Thanksgiving coloring contest, I remember asking my older brother what the “real” colors of a turkey were, wanting my turkey to look as real as possible. (I won first place in my age bracket with my accurately colored, in-the-lines, turkey coloring page).
Newspaper clipping of the Thanksgiving coloring contest winners held by Jack & Jill Grocery store (I'm the smallest one with the attention problem).
As a child I would ask my father time after time to draw me a picture – And in the times when he wasn’t telling me to go ask my mother to draw the picture – her one and only stick figure – He would mainly draw pictures of horses for me. In my eyes he was an excellent artist and I wished I could draw as well as he could.
While growing up I spent much of my time drawing. One of my favorite things to draw when I was around age 9 or 10 was pictures of Charles Shultz’s Peanuts characters.
I loved Snoopy, Charlie Brown, the whole Peanuts gang – And you could see it by looking at my stack of Peanuts drawings that I drew over summer break. I compiled all of my work that summer into my first and only book.
My love for drawing portraits started when I was a teenager. My first portrait was one of my father. Seeing the delight on my father’s face after showing him his first original portrait, put the desire in me to draw more. I would start taking commissioned portraits when I was in my twenties.
Last commissioned pencil portrait.
Older people might remember seeing advertisements for, “Draw Me!” – A talent test created by Art Instruction Schools. After taking this test at the age of 16, I began the fundamental correspondence art course offered by the institution, which lasted for 2 yrs. My desire was to become a commercial artist.
"Winky" practice drawing for "Draw Me" contest.
Down the road, my art was put on hold for a short time after marriage but after the break I tried my hand at painting animals, landscapes and still life, in acrylics. I would continue in this medium for many years.
While working on a commissioned landscape painting late at night, (At this point in time my husband and I had two adorable little girls, and, a year and a half later, a precious baby boy – Hence the late night painting) I had the television on for background noise. That noise, turned, into interest, would be the turning point of my life. The television show that was on was, The 700 Club, a Christian program. I watched it night after night while painting, and through this program would accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. If you would like to read my testimony in its entirety, click here.
My life and art would now have more meaning and purpose.
Even though I have participated in Ducks Unlimited and had my work featured both in a gallery and a museum in years past, my true desire now is to use my artwork to encourage people, lift their spirit, and most of all, to let them know the love that God has for them.
Donated paintings to Ducks Unlimited.
My husband and I now reside in Hastings, Nebraska. Our three wonderful children are grown and married, with families of their own. I continue to paint more than ever, having made the transition to oil paint, mainly painting small works of art. I no longer take commissioned work, but I paint what I love, using the gift God has given me to create art with a true and loving meaning.