My Story

I’ve never believed creativity belongs only to people with perfect lives or perfect timing.

For me, making has always been an act of curiosity and, in many ways, a quiet form of hope. I don’t wait for life to become uncomplicated before creating something beautiful. I make room for beauty alongside imperfect circumstances.

My creative journey has never followed a straight line. Before I ever picked up a paintbrush or camera, I found joy on the stage through theater and music. Everything changed while attending Walters State Community College in my hometown of Morristown, Tennessee, where I discovered photography and visual art and met my future husband, who encouraged both passions from the very beginning.

That discovery eventually led me to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts and, later in life, a Master of Arts in Teaching at East Tennessee State University. Becoming an educator fulfilled a dream I hadn’t realized I was carrying. This August, I’ll begin my seventeenth year teaching art, where I have the privilege of helping students discover their own creative voices while continuing to grow as an artist myself.

When I look back, I realize I didn’t become creative on my own.

My mother filled our home with books and introduced me to stories that sparked a lifelong love of history, romance, and fairy tales. My father gave me music and a voice that still connects me to him every time I sing. My husband opened the door to photography and visual art and continues to be my greatest creative partner. My students challenge me to keep learning, experimenting, and seeing the world with fresh eyes.

Every painting I create, every class I teach, and every novel I write carries a little of each of them with it.

Life, of course, has brought its share of challenges. As a breast cancer survivor and someone who has navigated other significant health struggles, I’ve learned that creativity isn’t something reserved for easy seasons. It’s often what carries us through the difficult ones. Those experiences have deepened my appreciation for beauty, resilience, and the quiet hope found in making something with our own hands.

Today my work moves between painting, mixed media, drawing, photography, and, most recently, historical fiction. One of my fellow art teachers once described my work as Modern Romanticism—a phrase that immediately felt like home. I’m drawn to layered surfaces, vintage ephemera, botanical forms, atmospheric landscapes, and the conversation between history and imagination. Whether I’m creating a painting or writing a novel, I’m always searching for the same thing: stories that remind us beauty, love, and wonder still exist.

I’m endlessly inspired by the Victorian era, British Isles history, historic architecture, old photographs, museums, gardens, antiques, and well-loved books. Historical romance, especially, has shaped both my reading life and my own writing, reminding me that the most memorable stories are ultimately about hope, courage, and people choosing love despite impossible circumstances.

When I’m not teaching or creating, you’ll usually find me reading, wandering through an antique shop or museum, planning my next creative project, singing lead for a local cover band, or spending time with my delightfully opinionated one-eyed rescue cat Trixie and her side-kick Mr. May, who both firmly believes every studio day should revolve around them.

Whether you’ve found me through my artwork or my books, I’m so glad you’re here!

I hope something you discover here inspires you to slow down, stay curious, and make room for a little more beauty in your own life.