The desire to create, recreate or capture an object of beauty and to share that beauty with another person is a driving force that makes me who and what I am. My early child hood is abundantly full of parental stories about my enthusiastic need to create and to share that excitement with everyone, no matter how rude or culturally unacceptable, I could find something of artistic beauty about anything, anywhere. Both my parents worked just to provide the bare essentials for my three brothers and me. Before I could create my vision I had to creatively provide the means for obtaining the needed materials, such as crushing organic materials for paint or designing and sewing my own clothing. As am amateur astronomer I designed and built my own telescope including grinding the mirror (the glass blank was generously donated by Bausch & Lomb).

With an aptitude for the sciences as well as the arts I had to make a decision on which passion to pursue when I started college. Science won the dilemma but Art won out in the end. I entered a pre-med program with Chemistry as a major and Biology as a minor. Unchallenged, bored and finding no creativity in the program, I switched to Art to finish out my second year and returned the following fall as an Art major. With all of my required courses for a BS already earned, I could fill all my courses in the arts with a concentration in 3D; and I studied Theatrical Set Design for my art elective. I studied at Nazareth College Art Center and the State University of New York at Brockport.

I have been very fortunate to work several jobs in the arts, working in photo processing in the professional department of Carhart Photo and latter for Mel Simon Professional Labs, both in Rochester, New York. Working with Mel Simon I developed a passion for photography and a strong background in the business. After raising my family and playing the role of farmer I was hired as an independent artistic designer for the First National Bank’s Giles Heritage Theater. I had the pleasure to work with a director, Butch Sutton, who believed in my ability to carry through with my artistic vision and a bank willing to fund it. My years with GHT were my most artistically rewarding and my most physically exhausting. There are no set hours in professional theater, you work until the jobs done and count yourself lucky to find 4 hours to sleep. During my employment with GHT, I learned many technical arts, like lighting design & follow spot, while fulfilling the fine arts. I was a Costume Designer, pattern drafter and seamstress; a Set Designer overseeing the construction, painting drops and sets; Prop Designer and occasional actress. I developed a technique for painting drops with dyes. This meant that canvas drops could be backlit providing realism to the set or using dyed scrims (sheers) for fantasy effects. My set for “Carousel” received a standing ovation.

In 1995 I started my own home business, TechnoGraphics. Bob, my husband, and I do on location and freelance photography, video and sound production, photo restoration, design and layout work, imaging and Ltd. Imaging and 3D Rendering Artworks. I am a member of the Maury County Arts Guild working on the Visual Arts Committee and Gallery Director, the Spring Hill Visual Arts Guild, the Southern Area Arts Repertory as the Visual Arts Chairman, the Giles County Camera Club and Cheekwood. My artwork and photography have been displayed in several galleries in Tennessee and Kentucky, winning the Merit Award for “Alice, Reflections through Time” this year at the Pennyroyal Show in Hopkinsville, KY.