This past summer I started my Masters in Art History from Fort Hays State University.   Once I have it, the students that I teach in my Art History class at Greenfield-Central High School will be able to earn dual credit through Ivy Tech.  It has been a pretty good experience so far.  Lots or reading, and lots of writing.  

I also was able to work on the biggest Mural that I have ever worked on this past summer.  It was an awesome experience.  

Also, this past summer I was able to help grade AP Art History Exams in Salt Lake City with my friend Maite.  Essay grading is boring, but it helps me teach the content to my students better.  And there are always the essays that say something that makes me crack up.  They are the diamond in the ruff.  

I've been busy working full-time and working on my Master's degree part-time so I haven't had much time to paint.  I have been slowly working on this painting for my Mom and Dad.  I devised using a table with sizes, media, color schemes, styles, and genres and then used a random number generator to select one from each category.  Below is a Surreal Still life, that is medium-sized and monochromatic.  

And the last thing that is currently distracting me from painting as much is... my surprise pregnancy!  Totally didn't expect it to happen but baby Margo is due January 28th, a day before my fortieth birthday.  

So all in all, 2023 has been a great year, 2024 looks to be a whole new adventure!  

Happy New Year!

My spring break has been pretty great so far.  I was able to work on Mons.  It should be done and ready to ship to Texas soon.

Pax was accepted into a gallery show in Indianapolis later this Spring.  In the meantime it is on display at my school, Greenfield-Central High School.

I was able to get a little more work on my nephew Baker’s mural.  

And THANK GOODNESS the Greenfield Arts Council decided to push back the community mural until later this summer.  The weather here in Indiana has been less than stellar for outdoor work.

My amazing coworker Shonee Junga ran a 5k that our school does as a team for a teacher non profit, Teacher’s Treasures, fundraiser.  Shonee went all out and brought her creative “A”game with the costumes and we won Best Dressed Team! 

I am really excited to announce that I have been selected to create a community mural in Downtown Greenfield, IN. The community is going to vote on a design and then they will get to take part in the painting of it. Below I’ve linked an article about it from the Greenfield Daily Reporter, as well as the ideas I’ve created so far, and the murals location.

I am super happy to have gotten to be a part of the Hoosier Women Artists exhibit this year. I got to see some amazing art by my fellow Hoosier ladies. I also got to see one of my former professors from Herron School of Art, Sherri Stone. She is such an inspiration!

My artwork, Vote!, is going to be hanging in the office of Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch. She is the lovelly lady with the red glasses.

If you would like to learn more about the artwork you can check out its page by clicking the button below.

1.  I have a great design mocked up already, using a grid with the same specifications as 1/10 of the fence.
2.  I only used colors that are available from the Put-In-Cup company.
3.  As an High School Art Educator, I have all of June wide open.
​4.  As a High School Art Educator I have ready access to amazing high school senior artists that would be excellent assistants in the installation.
​5.  I’m tenacious. 

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1/10 Neo Belle Époque, 2022, 10 inches by 140 inches.  Grid design for Put-in-cups. 

So what is the idea behind the design?  How did it get it’s title, Neo Belle Époque?  

Well, as you can see from the image above, it was inspired by some of the art that was most well known from the Belle Époque.  Dictionary,com defines it as “noun, plural belles é·poques  [bel ey-pawk].  French.
the period (1871–1914) between the end of the Franco-Prussian War and the outbreak of World War I, characterized by relative peacefulness in Western Europe and by marked advances and productivity in the arts, literature, technology, etc.”

It is when some amazing art was made.  For instance, Van Gogh’s Starry Night (1889).  Guess what influenced French painters?  Prints from a newly-opened-up-to-the-world Japan.  Much like Hokusai’s the Great Wave off Kanagawa (1820-1830).  

The last influence in the design of Neo Belle Époque is Gustav Klimt.  You probably know his most famous painting The Kiss, but he also created one of my personal favorites, The Tree of Life (1909).

I chose these artists as influence for this piece because I LOVE SPIRALS.  And I was trying to think, what would be appropriate for an Airport?  The three artworks that influenced my design were all leading up to and flourishing right at the same time as the birth of flight in 1903.  

​The color scheme was selected for many reasons,  but one that stands out to me is Indiana’s state flag colors.  It is an abstract homage to the location welcoming travelers.

1/10 Neo Belle Époque, 2022, 10x140 inches, In Progress

​The title of my design Neo Belle Époque, literally means “new beautiful era”. It is 1/10 because it is only 1/10 of the total fence length, a whopping 1400 ft in length.

Well, I finally finished my Kroger mural!  It is installed in the front entrance of the Kroger in Brownsburg Indiana.

Art fest was a blast. Special thanks to my helpers, Shonee Junga and Brenna Bonek. We were able to get this big fella finished in 2.5 days despite sunny, hot weather.

I like to think of it as Art Camp 2021.

Life is never dull.  I am super lucky to be one of the artists that is creating a mural over labor day weekend at Indy Arts Fest.  Today I got to meet three amazing artists that will be working on Murals as well.  One of them, Koda Witsken, is a powerhouse of creativity!  She organized the whole thing and I am just so grateful.  What a good artist/leader.

We painted whatever we felt like in 85 degree sunny weather.  I sweat a bunch, but also had a lot of fun.  I painted the spirals.  Julie A Davis Veach painted the zig zag pink lines and colorful triangles, Koda painted beautiful lillies and the phrase "By Artists for Indy", and Dan Handskillz painted an awesome monochromatic robotic looking hand.  

It started and stopped more than most of my paintings, but she is finally done!  The webpage for this piece has all of the details.

I also did a little painting on the side for Lili, a promising young artist that I get to work with on occasion.

I also completed a design for a Kroger Mural Competition.  It took me a solid 4 weeks on my iPad, no painting in real life!  I will hear by August first if I was lucky enough to get it.  

Now onto my next independent project, a painting for Dinah of a European city with bicycles.