Many years ago, I painted figures with oil paint on Bristol Board. Oils became impossible to work with due to its odor, and the fact that I was painting on my dining room table in a relatively small two-bedroom apartment. Watercolors became my new medium, and after many early disasters I developed a technique with this new material using brushes and sponges. Over time I painted very large panoramas, large, medium and recently, small landscapes. To create a panorama, I would backpack up the mountain, settle into a lean-to, park myself by the lake and begin to draw. It is important for me to create "finished" watercolors that have a bit of magic. I will work and rework the piece, even after years have passed, to create this magic. I will take the paintings out of their frames to rework a piece...after it has been hanging on my wall for a time, sometimes a very long time. This is the excitement involved in creating art, and I feel fortunate in that I have the privilege to be able to accomplish this bit of magic, after a bit of struggle. On very few occasions I "finish" a watercolor on my first attempt, and that feels wonderful! Basically, I am a shy person. It is fabulous to be a Member of The Eastport Gallery. I now feel a member of an artist community exhibiting my watercolors through the summer months; and even sell a couple of my pieces. My two-bedroom apartment has turned into two homes, one in Eastport and one in New Hampshire, each with a beautiful studio. I feel so fortunate to be able to work on my art in such gorgeous, comfortable environments. It is a long way from my dining room table. How I move from Realism to the Impressionist final product. As I paint I listen to violin and piano music, mainly Bach and Beethoven. Lately, it is Beethoven Violin Sonatas, but the Bach Partitas are among my favorites.