I am a blue-eyed Cajun Girl from Lafayette, Louisiana. I discovered my love of art as a young child, fascinated by the bright colors and messy fun of acrylic finger painting. My mom, ever encouraging and full of fun ideas for the next art project, exposed us kids to many forms of arts and crafts throughout our childhood. One of my favorite ways to create art was through crayon shavings. Once old enough to be trusted with an iron, my sisters and I would shave multiple crayon colors onto white paper, cover it with another paper and iron out wonderful wildly colorful abstracts of melted crayons.
Living in South Louisiana, I was surrounded by wonderful forms of art - In Church, stained glass windows and colorful 70's style banners held my attention long after I'd grown bored by the repetition of the mass; Mardi Gras parades with their festive, fantastical costumes lit my imagination on fire. New Orleans was another amazing source of inspiration - art galleries tucked away in dozens of little side streets, Jazz Fest posters with New Orleans musicians in colorful attire blazed the walls of local establishments, old street lamps and park benches with multicolored layers of peeling paint revealing color after color -creating a unique patina all their own - all these and more were the palette, the vibrant still lifes that colored my world like a Van Gogh painting.
Somewhat of a gypsy, I wandered away from my Cajun homeland, longing for new adventures in distant lands. Except for a short stint to Mexico and Paris, most of my wanderings ended up being in the Continental U.S. - Ohio, Kansas, Indiana, Arizona, Minnesota, Montana, and most recently, North Carolina - home of the Blue Ridge Mountains. All have made an impact on my soul and my art, all have been the source of adventure and inspiration. Stay tuned - soon I'll have more stories to tell and more art to share!