I went to Mount Vernon College and received a Bachelor of Arts. The first job out of college was working on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Correspondent for Congressman Harold Volkmer. My duties were reading bills in detail and responding to constituents personally through letters and phone calls. I am not much into politics and have dyslexia so I did not do very well responding through letters and knew that this type of work was not for me.
I then pursed a sales and marketing career with the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts and was responsible for attending conferences as well as the Annual convention held every fall. I set up membership booths and handed out information for corporate executives. I sent out statistical reports, Membership handbooks, Federal REIT Tax Compendium, Financial Standards Updates, and News briefs. I stayed with NAREIT for five years and did well but as time went on I became very board and unfilled. I pursued another career in sales and marketing with LCI International now know as Qwest. I did well because I could use my creative side to design brochures and marketing packages. I met my quota each month and got promoted to regional sales representative but again I felt that there was something missing. Through all of these jobs the one thing that remained a consistent was painting. When I paint I am focused, happy and fulfilled. However, People kept telling me that I could not make a living through painting so I thought of it as just a hobby but it was the one thing that I love doing. I got married in my late twenties and had two children. I worked part time with my first daughter and was fortunate to quit working when I had my second child. I painted children’s murals, furniture and wine glasses that I sold at local craft fairs. The creative process begun, I studied at The Art League in Alexandria, VA began studying with a professor of art at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC and am currently studying with Rob Vander zee at the Vander zee Gallery of Art.
