She received a BFA from Wittenberg University and continued her studies in architecture and graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Colorado Institute of Art. She has worked in both architecture and graphic design. In 2002 she began to concentrate on oil painting, a life-long desire. In the past 10 years she has studied with Frank Arcuri, David Leffel, Sherrie McGraw, HongNian Zhang, Ken Backuus and Peter Fiore. Besides her teachers, her influences have included the 17th century Dutch Masters Vermeer and Rembrandt. She incorporates their strong use of chiaroscuro into her still-lifes. For her landscapes, she combines classicism with impressionism, finding more inspiration in Corot’s work, as well as the more contemporary Sargent.