Growing up on a farm, we often had to be creative and my mother encouraged us to always use what she called expansion thinking, “What if, what else, and why not?” So, I loved doing projects and seeing what I might come up with. During the first part of COVID and living on my own with three cats, I found that I needed to be doing something to keep me from going stir crazy. I went online, ordered canvasses, brushes, and acrylics, and decided to teach myself to paint. Using my go to philosophy of “what if, what else, and why not?” I soon found myself painting my version of poppies and images of Predominantly Poppies evolved in an ever growing and expanding series of paintings. I basically was entertaining myself, posting on Facebook sharing to friends “look what I’ve done” and to my surprise, people began asking if they might buy some pieces. 

Painting has now become a creative outlet for me and such a joy to discover at this stage of my life. I like bold bright colors, big images and am not afraid to express what comes from within to express upon the canvas, expanding to incorporate pieces of wood, paper, and anything else in thinking, “What if I did this? What might it look like?”. Being creative is fun and I so enjoy seeing what others do with their creative minds and talent. 

Beyond my artistic pursuits, I co-founded the Sock It To Em Sock Campaign, a nonprofit that provides new socks for men, women, and children experiencing homelessness. Since our conception in 2012, we have provided over 1.2M pair of socks to those in need with an influence in all fifty states.

I have two grown sons, three grown step children, six grandchildren, a cat, and I live a very active, happy, and productive life.