I have always drawn and painted.  I was lucky to grow up in a large family that encouraged creativity.  My dad had a newspaper with a printshop and brought home the leftover paper for me to mark, paint and cut.  When in middle school I designed and painted murals for our dances. In high school my art class had a show in our downtown park that included my very large, very pink, nude. My teacher stood bravely by all day.  I also painted huge Wildcats on newsprint that the football team ran through at the beginning of each game.   

I chose a landscape architecture career that honed my designer's eye and drawing skills. Those years of creating three dimensional spaces, designing with shadow, sunlight, color and texture, naturally inspired my passion for painting landscapes.
 
I started painting with pastels when I found an old set of NuPastels and a moleskin sketchbook left behind by my artist daughter.  When I turned 50, my children grown, I focused on pastel painting. Now, many years later, I've participated in juried shows, solo shows and group shows and have been published in a fancy art book and national magazine.  I quit my day job and became a full-time artist when I fell in love and moved to the King's Valley area. My studio sits near vineyards and overlooks tawny meadows and oak covered hillsides. I am experimenting with acrylics, ipad digital apps and watercolor as well as pastel.
 
I paint plein air with Vistas & Vineyards in the summer and belong to the Corvallis Art Guild. I show annually in the fall on the Philomath Open Studios Tour and am a signature member of the Northwest Pastel Society.
 
Recently, I have had the great joy to work with my author/illustrator sister, Laura Kvasnosky, on her children’s books.  Our third together, Ocean Lullaby, was published in June, 2021. Dolly Parton chose it, and our second book, Squeak!,  for her Imagination Library project.

Can be a bit messy at times....