What I love most about painting is how it makes me focus on my environment, even when I'm not painting at that moment. Unremarkable activities like a drive down the freeway become exciting when I try to figure out how I'd paint the light on the trees, the reflections in the cars, the color of the mountains. I paint almost exclusively on location, and the hours spent completely absorbed in the scene make it a memory that stays vivid long after I finish the painting. It has enriched my life tremendously.

Currently, I'm working mostly in pastels, and I'm predominantly painting landscapes. I had been sketching for several years when my sister Lily gave me a set of pastels and urged me to branch out into color. I liked using them, especially after my friend Patti Flynn gave me a few lessons and encouraged me to keep going. I enjoyed the process, but it was when I started taking Adult Education classes that what had been just a diversion from my work as an engineer turned into a consuming passion. I look forward to pursuing it for the rest of my life.

My husband, Gerry Winant, paints in oils, and we treasure the time we spend painting outdoors together.

Background

I was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1950 and lived there until I was 17. At that time, my parents moved our family to Santa Barbara. I never left.

Education

University of California, Santa Barbara : Ph.D. Physics, 1979

Santa Barbara Adult Education: Plein Air and Figure Drawing classes.  Composition study with Jim Armstrong.

Workshops: Chris Chapman, Glenna Hartmann, Michael Drury, Thomas Van Stein, Marcia Burtt, Mark Kerckhoff, Richard Schloss, Sally Strand, Albert Handell, Stanley Goldstein, Jean LeGassick, Randall Sexton, Richard McKinley.

                          
                                                            photo: Christine Holland