"I grew up in Northern California in a bucolic, rural setting where Loggerhead Shrike and Western Meadowlarks kept me company on the walk home from school. Red-Tailed Hawks, Kestrels and Kites, Anna’s Hummingbirds and Burrowing Owls were abundant on my family’s ranch. Instead of an alarm clock, I woke in the early mornings to a chorus of birdsong. After college, I became fascinated with learning to draw and paint and set to work depicting the birds and animals I knew. I studied anatomy, drawing and illustration at the California College of Arts and Crafts, which prepared me to work as a nature illustrator. Years later, I painted figuratively and changed my medium to oil while studying at the historic Palette & Chisel Academy of Art in Chicago. I eventually returned to painting the natural world, especially birds and their habitats because they fascinate me. Today, I spend hours each week outdoors observing birds and wildlife, taking photos, making sketches, and recording color information for reference in the studio. Concepts for paintings emerge from these personal experiences in nature."