For me, painting is a way of translating the emotions that define my human experience into color and texture. I use painting to capture the emotions I felt when I was young. I was born in Vienna, Austria and grew up in Western Europe where I had the opportunity to explore the beautiful cityscapes and quaint rural landscapes of Austria, Croatia, Switzerland, Italy and England. The lakes, mountains, hiking trails, and winding country roads that I saw as a child still inspire me today. I loved being surrounded by trees, bushes and flowers and remember the great joy of walking in gardens, strolling through meadows and hiking through the hillsides. Specifically, I recall sitting among small berry bushes and enjoying the warmth of the sun in my grandparents’ garden. It was here that my most cherished childhood memories were formed. These memories together with my experiences as a young adult of travelling and studying in Switzerland, Italy and in particular London, have inspired my paintings as well as my love for music.

I have enjoyed art, classical music and being involved in the creative process since my early youth in Vienna. However, as a young mother in New Jersey I discovered my love for painting in the early 1960s when my husband and I moved to the United States. With his and my young daughter’s support, I was able to devote myself to painting for a decade and my work from this time reflects this creative freedom. I painted in a highly experimental style that culminated in large, vibrant, impressionistic and abstract works that sold at exhibitions and fairs. While I was enjoying painting I also worked towards furthering my academic credentials in business at the New York Institute of Finance.

In 1971 I accepted a position as an Assistant Specialist in Family Resource Management with the Cooperative Extension Service of Rutgers University, Cook College in New Brunswick, NJ. I spent almost thirty years in academia as an educator in family financial management on a statewide basis and contributed nationally. My profession did not leave a lot of time for oil painting, but I continued to draw and to paint with watercolors, and eventually began creating “midnight meditations.” These artistic exercises are loosely based on and inspired by the ancient tradition of mandalas and other secular meditative drawings.

I did not return to painting until 2000 when my husband and I moved to Boston in our retirement to be closer to our daughter and her growing family. Here I have found inspiration in the suburban landscape and in the rich cultural environment of New England, particularly Vermont, the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts, Jamestown and Newport, Rhode Island. In recent years I have also had the opportunity to travel to Aspen, Colorado where the majestic mountains and beautiful Aspen trees have been a great source of joy. I have returned to painting with vigor and enthusiasm and work in a style that is largely representational with elements of abstraction.

Over the past seventeen years I have found and come to be a part of an artistic community in my local neighborhood. As a member of the Newton Art Association (NAA), I have participated in a critique group and volunteered at demonstrations and exhibits. I have taken classes in oil painting and sketching at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and also as part of my artistic developmental process, I have taken classes at the the New Art Center (NAC) and the Mosesian Center for the Arts. I have had the honor of participating in group exhibitions at both of these centers in addition to Newton Open Studios and NAA. Further sources of my artistic inspiration have come through my and my husband’s ongoing subscriptions to the Boston Symphony Orchestra and my annual excursions to London and Vienna’s art museums and classical music concerts.

I carry a camera with me frequently; I photograph the landscapes and flowers that capture my imagination whenever I come across them. Over the years I have taken thousands of photographs but I do not consider myself a photographer. My photographs are tools for my painting process, reinforcing my memory and evoking the emotions that drew me to the scenes initially. On occasion I use my photographs as compositional aides from which my creative interpretations take form.

When I see a hillside, fields of wildflowers or wooded paths I am often overwhelmed by their beauty, and it is this outpouring of happiness and elation that I feel compelled to give expression to in my paintings. From the explosive, exuberant colors of spring to the peaceful blankets of white snow in winter, I paint to recapture my emotional responses to these transient moments of inspiration.