My Story

I’ve been creating all my life. As a teenager, I started my “official” art career as a studio assistant for an artist in my native Minnesota. Over the years I’ve dabbled all types of arts and crafts but in 1990 I discovered Faux finishing. I quickly built a very successful faux finish and decorative painting business. Over the course of 33+ years, I’ve worked with countless clients, designing and installing custom faux finishes, decorative painting, and murals in homes and businesses across the country. With my talented and dedicated crew, we tackled large-scale projects. We often spent months at a time on a single project, bringing the clients' dreams to life with color and texture. Some of our most notable projects include faux finishing the entire exterior of Bruce Rossmeyer’s Harley-Davidson Dealership, the largest Harley-Davidson dealership in the world at the time, we painted 800 pirate ship beds for the Caribbean Resort. We were called to faux finish multiple luxury log cabins nestled in the mountains of Tennessee, as well as the new “Bill France Fan Building” at the heart of the Talladega Speedway in Alabama. Our work earned awards, recognition in trade magazines, and countless memories of collaboration, hard work, and laughter.

Time and life are catching up with me and change is inevitable. I will always love the decorative painting business but I have downsized. My son Jon and I still take on some of the smaller projects but the days of big scaffold and boom lifts are over for us. During this transition to a smaller scale and type of art, I found inspiration at my dog’s daycare and began painting pet portraits. This new passion led me to explore different mediums, including acrylics, oils, cold wax, and alcohol inks. 

Becoming a studio artist has been a journey of self discovery. Finding my voice and purpose as an artist is an ongoing process. I often say that I am a daydreaming, night thinking optimist! Studio time allows me to lose track of all time and space, my mind gets quiet, and the creative process begins. I love getting my hands on all kinds of artistic mediums and styles. I will paint bold color portraits in acrylics, play with encaustic wax and have recently discovered the joy of oils and the texture of cold wax. I am particularly drawn to the medium of alcohol inks. I am in love with the vibrant colors and organic, flowing movement of the inks. The challenge of working with a fast-drying medium can be difficult, changing shape and color at will, not often laying down the same way twice.. Working with alcohol ink forces me to give up some control and let “art” happen.

While settling into a slower paced faux finish business and more “studio” time at the easle my journey took another exciting turn when I met another fireball artist at a painting competition in 2019. A friendship quickly ensued, followed by a partnership to open an art gallery!  Check out the Art Spotlight tab to learn more!