I began painting in Wisconsin, but really fell in love with the beauty of the American Southwest.  I am active in plein air painting groups, and when not painting in the studio, I can usually be found outdoors with pochade box and backpack, capturing first-hand the beauty of the desert, the mountains, and especially the Grand Canyon.  Plein aire painting uniquely captures the depth and definition of the landscape; these qualities can be lost when working from photographs alone.  I feel there is almost always a near perfect composition provided by nature.  I love to look for that when selecting a site to paint.  Sometimes a scene calls out loudly to be painted; other times I hear only a whisper.  Those are the images from the landscape that find their way to my heart and to my canvas.