Leslie has been a close friend of mine since the late 1970’s when I lived in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. She has the most beautiful trained voice. When we hiked or river-tripped, I always begged her to sing, and her husband often accompanied her on...
This is a portrait of my two sons, Aihan and Martin, backpack camping on vacation in the Sierra Nevada high country. I lived twenty winters there at 7000’ in the mountains, although not quite as many summers after I started coming to Alaska. I’ve always loved...
The peacock earrings caught my attention and I wondered if it would be possible to paint such a wonder of natural beauty, so I bought them. The hand-painted silk scarf was made by my dear friend Cosmo, and it is my favorite. Leah, my neice, is one of my favorite...
My husband Rob and I went to Bulgaria in 1997 to adopt our first son. We traveled first, making new friends and practicing the language we had studied for 17 months. Our family of four has returned whenever we are able. Our visit in June 2011 was our fifth trip and...
Stoyanka has always been special to me because she and my son Martin knew each other in the orphanage in Bulgaria before coming to Haines. Stoli, as she is known, grew into a lovely young lady, and I wanted to paint her portrait. She posed for number of sessions...
Aurita joined the U.S. military shortly after 9/11 and served 8 ½ years in the army. She trained as a linguist, then did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, where she was a staff sergeant in the 10th Mountain Division. Afterwards she took a job as a rafting guide in my...
