IN THE EARLY 90'S MY ART "CAREER"  BEGAN TO GERMINATE AFTER DISCOVERING A HIDDEN RESERVOIR OF CREATIVE ENERGY BROUGHT ON BY  PERSONAL CHALLENGES.  I HAD NEVER CONSIDERED PAINTING BEFORE THIS TIME,  BUT SOMETHING WITHIN WAS PUSHING ME TO BEGIN.   I BEGAN WITH PORTRAITURE AND SINCE THAT TIME MY WORK HAS EXPANDED BEYOND ANYTHING I COULD HAVE IMAGINED.  

LIFE THRIVES ON CHANGE AND THE TRANSITION TO BECOMING AN ARTIST HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS LEARNING CURVE.  I HAVE DEVELOPED A NEW FOUND RESPECT FOR THE RESOLVE NECESSARY TO MAKE THE ART PROFESSION  WORK FOR ONESELF.  THE JOY COMES FROM REACHING WITHIN AND LETTING THE EXPRESSION FLOW FROM THE SILENCE.

MY MENTOR AND HUSBAND,  LONG TIME ARTIST CHRIS MAC CLURE AND I  MOVED TO CABO SAN LUCAS, BAJA, MEXICO IN 1997.   WE BEGAN WITH A 2ND STOREY STUDIO AND OVER THE NEXT 13 YEARS OUR GOLDEN CACTUS GALLERY HAD MORPHED TO BECOME THE MOST RESPECTED ART GALLERY IN LOS CABOS.   OUR GALLERIES' AMAZING COLLECTION OF ARTISTS AND ART BECAME THE  BENCHMARK OF EXCELLENCE FOR THE ART COMMUNITY IN THE SOUTHERN BAJA.

DURING THIS TIME I PAINTED AND LEARNED THE CRAFT FIRST HAND.   RUNNING A GALLERY IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY  WAS CHALLENGING, BUT THROUGH  WORKING AND PAINTING FULL TIME  I HONED  AND REFINED MY PAINTING SKILLS.   HOWEVER,  IT WAS  THE EXCITEMENT OF THE MEXICAN CULTURE THAT PROVIDED THE ONGOING  INSPIRATION.

MY WORK IS A MENAGE OF LIFE, EXPERIENCE AND CREATIVE ENERGY AND THE LANDSCAPES, FLORALS, PORTRAITURE AND EXPRESSIONIST ABSTRACTS ALL REFLECT THE VIBRANT COLORS OF MEXICO AND MY LIFE AS A CONTEMPLATIVE.

I have resisted the temptation to attend art workshops as I don't want my own expression to be colored by other artists' ways of working.  This has probably slowed down the technical skilled/ learning that classes give but my own voice remains untainted and the energy I give my work, I hope, makes up for that one aspect of painting expertise.

I STILL SPEND SEVERAL MONTHS EACH YEAR IN MEXICO, THOUGH WE NO LONGER OWN THE GALLERY AND THE REST OF THE TIME I PAINT AT MY STUDIO  IN WHITE ROCK, B.C.