I was born and raised in a small town about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, PA.  I began my creative journey dating back to the age of eight by creating a crayon drawn book for my mother. I cut up an old pair of my favorite boots to use as the cover. As she looked through it, she cried tears of joy. From that point forward, I vowed to challenge myself with every gift I gave her. I wanted to see those tears of joy every time. My mother has been my biggest inspiration in following my dreams and my heart.

 

I took every art class I could, only to walk away with an altered vision from what we had learned in class.  I won poetry and visual arts awards all through junior high, high school and into my adult life, and am a published author, poet and photographer.  I could not wait for an opportunity to move away and begin my life.  I always knew there was nothing there for me because I dreamed…and I dreamed big!  I felt I had nothing to fear in the future.

 

I joined a national engineering and consulting firm.  The work was fascinating.  I had national accounts that required my presence all over the country.  In a very short time, I worked my way to the top executive position.  Ultimately, and with my employer’s blessing and support, this led to forming my own national consulting company, Complex Litigation Specialists, Inc.

 

I was highly respected in my field, so much so that my company’s expertise was constantly requested, along with my personal involvement.  My company handled all aspects from setting up temporary offices to house 30+ lawyers and clients, hiring local vendors to perform voluminous tasks, complete organization of paper and electronic files for all phases of the litigation (i.e., document reviews, productions, trials) to dismantling offices and storing case files.  My position required problem-solving skills and advanced organizational abilities.

 

One night as I reflected upon my schedule…50 lawyers, 20 temps, three clients (all asking a million questions), less than three hours sleep a night for the last two weeks, 18 hour workdays, completely unrealistic production deadlines and all the responsibility in my lap (which I always delivered), I realized I needed some creative balance in my life.

 

All along, I had been an artist – photography, painting, inventing, writing, and I had suppressed much of that to meet the demands of my extremely successful, but demanding, company.  I worked at scaling back my business time and increasing my work as an artist.  This led to a bit of a sabbatical.  I researched some product ideas that I would like to patent and bring to market.  I also took more leisure trips and more photos, thus expanding my photography collection, which I began making a profit on in 2005.

 

On a trip to Australia, I became enthralled by a spray paint artist on the street.  When I returned to the States, I began spray painting on canvas.  Traumatized by the events of September 11th, I sought a release.  I wondered what the children must think and feel about these events and created a collection of art, entitled “Child’s Play”, that was my interpretation of a child’s perspective of the events.  This collection was accepted for exhibition at The Florida International Museum on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy.

 

I am very ambitious, motivated and an organized dreamer.  I welcome any opportunity or challenge that might come my way.