Born October 4, 1951 in North Carolina, I showed a love of drawing and art from my toddler days. My favorite early drawing subjects were horses and star people! I have also experienced a lifelong love of animals and birds, and was always trying to find ways to trick my parents into allowing us to have animals that they did not want.
I was headed towards a medical career, when nature changed my plans, and I had a baby daughter. I became a jewelry artist for 10 years and then opened up a Gallery showing my work and others called The Crystal Dolphin in 1989 in Bellingham, WA.
I first began painting on rocks in 1990 on the Northwest Coast, where I hand collected each stone. The beach where I collect is a constantly renewing resource of billions of beautifully polished stones! It is a wonderful experience to be there, and I always have a hard time tearing myself away when I go to the Coast to collect stones.
In 2002, I tried something much larger, and painted a detailed 15’x23’ mural of a tropical jungle in acrylics in a large home in Edmonton, AB. It came out beautifully and I have continued painting more wildlife, including a bald eagle and a gray wolf. I’m about to dabble in watercolor, and would love to try water-based oils!
Now I live on an acre in the beautiful little town of Creston, British Columbia, which is located on the south shore of Kootenay Lake. I raise Abyssinian cats, Bantam chickens, miniature rabbits, palomino horses, and enjoy my two
children and two grandchildren. My
first grandson named me ‘Abi’, and
so I use that as my artist name when
signing the rocks.