I was born in Western Pennsylvania, but have lived my adult life in Maryland. When I first moved away from home, I was very homesick for the more rural life that I was used to. After raising my three children here, Maryland has become my home, but every time I drive west towards Pennsylvania, I still get tinges of nostalgia for my childhood. I often stop the car or have my kids take a photo in motion when I see a scene that gives me those warm tinges of my past. I keep the photos on my phone and pull them up when I am ready to paint. I like to use abstract shapes and forms to create my landscapes, highlighting the beauty of the colors and layers of interesting shapes, rather than getting carried away with details.