As a plein air painter,

I work on location—outdoors, in the moment—capturing the light, mood, and character of a place as it unfolds before me. I'm always looking for patterns in light and shadow, but even more than that, I’m drawn to the quiet details that tell a larger story. Often, it's a smaller part of a scene that tells a bigger story

My compositions start with shapes. I consider the relationship between them and the negative shape (air and sky) around them. Once this is understood, the play of light through the painting is my joy to paint. It becomes quite a puzzle to put together, achieving depth and movement through drawing, value, and color temperature.

Landscape painting makes me aware of subtle changes in nature, time of day, season, and human-caused. Each painting becomes a record of a moment, a way to say: this is how it felt to be here, right now.

Being outside, painting on site, has deepened how I see the world. I continue to learn—from fellow painters, from workshops, and most of all, from the land itself.

A woman wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat, a green hoodie, and gloves, holding a paintbrush, smiling outdoors with a garden and houses in the background.

Photo credit Jon Martin, Seacliff Drive, CA

PROCESS

A painter's work area with various paintbrushes, a palette with mixed paint, and a sketch of a building in a spiral notebook

“I begin by choosing a composition that resonates with me. Once I’ve found the scene, I sketch a loose layout to capture the essential shapes and flow.”

An outdoor scene with a painting of a waterfront landscape, showing buildings, a tree, and water, set amongst pink flowers and dry grass.

“With the structure in place, I gradually build the painting—layering details from dark to light and shaping the atmosphere of the piece.”

A painting of a riverside scene with a building, a palm tree, pink flowers, and boats on the water, displayed outdoors next to a bed of pink flowers and parked cars.

“As the painting comes together, I refine the forms, and adjust the lights and darks. 85% of a painting is groundwork to hold the final brushwork that often steals the show.”

Galleries

  • Colibri Art Gallery in Morgan Hill, CA

  • Piper J. Gallery in Truckee, CA

  • Ridgeline Gallery in Truckee, CA

Awards and Honors

  • Featured in “11 Artists to Collect Now: Emerging Plein Air Painters You Need to Know” October/November 2020 issue of Plein Air Magazine

  • 2024 “Member’s Choice” Los Gatos Art Association for Forced
    Bloom and 2023 “Artist of the Year” Los Gatos Art Association First Place for “Pillar Point”, voted by members

  • 2024 Alameda Award (3rd Place) Frank Bette Plein Air Paint Out for “Island Glow”

  • 2024 Carmel Art Festival, fifth year to be juried in and sold out of artwork.

  • 2023 Honorable Mention for “Joe’s Tacos” in Greater Bay Area Art Open at the New Museum of Los Gatos

  • 2023 “Jack Richeson Award” for “Sunset at Balena Bay” awarded by Ellen Howard in Frank Bette Plein Air Paint Out

  • 2022 “Third place” awarded by Kimball Geisler in Lost Sierra Plein Air

  • 2022 Fifth Place for “Songs of the Sea” Awarded by Paul Kratter at the Humboldt Plein Air Paint Out

  • 2019 Honorable Mention in the state-wide Triton Museum 2D Art Competition, 2019 2nd Place Los Gatos Art Association Fall Member’s Show

  • 2018 “Best of Show” and 2017 "Frank Bette Award" in the Frank Bette Plein Air Paint Out, Alameda, CA (Juried) for “Transitional Center” and “New Rich’s”

  • 2018 “Best of Show” Los Gatos Art Association Members Juried Show for “Sunset on the Inner Harbor”

  • 2017 and 2016 "Best of Show" North Tahoe Arts Plein Air Open for “Racked Up” and “West Shore Sports”

  • 2017 "Grand Jury Winner" Plein Air Competition for Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation

  • 2017 and 2016 "Honorable Mention" Capitola Plein Air (Juried)

  • 2016 "First Place" Los Gatos Art Association Member's show

An artist's paint palette with various colors of paint, a paintbrush, and a container of water, outdoors in nature.
A person wearing a hat and gloves painting outdoors on a canvas, with a paint palette and brush, depicting a landscape scene with trees, water, and a pinkish sky.
Black artist toolbox with blue and white painted scroll design, resting on a backpack outdoors.
A woman in a wide-brimmed hat and green hoodie painting outdoors with a palette of colors at an easel, near a street with parked cars in the background.

Activities

  • Artist Member of California Art Club, Allied Artists West and Los Gatos Art Association

  • Juried into Paint Sausalito 2024, 2025, Carmel Plein Air Festival (2018, 2019, 2020*, 2022, 2023, 2024), Los Gatos Plein Air 2019, Bird Dog Arts Plein Air (Kern County) 2023, 2024, Morgan Hill Plein Air 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025. Capitola Plein Air (2017, 2018 2019), Alameda’s Frank Bette Plein Air (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 )

  • Juried into California Art Club Shows including: 113th Gold Medal Show (and sold the piece), Sierra to the Sea (2019), “Our World Reimagined” (2020) and “Welcome to California (2020-2021)

  • Accepted into Greater Bay Area Open 2019, 2022, 2023 at the New Museum in Los Gatos

  • Invited to paint alongside master painters in Brittany France, July, 2019

  • Began teaching a Plein air In Oils class in 2018 in Lake Tahoe and 2023 in San Jose

  • Speaker at local artist clubs