About me
My background
I grew up in Montana, and I have lived in the west most of my life—Montana, California, Colorado and New Mexico. In Montana, I learned to love the outdoors and nature while camping, fishing, and hiking with my family. After high school, I went to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the San Francisco Art Institute, where I graduated with a BFA. After living in San Francisco for nearly a decade, I moved back to Montana, got married, had two daughters, and moved to Colorado. My job took me to Washington, D.C. for seven years where I enjoyed living on the East Coast and frequent visits to every art museum in D.C. and New York. I have traveled quite a bit all over the United States and internationally—Mexico, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, Italy and the Middle Eastern countries of Qatar and Jordan. I love the contrast of urban versus rural. In 2014, my husband and I left the Denver area and moved to the Sangre de Cristo mountains in Southern Colorado into a house we built, at 9500 feet elevation, fondly known as “Fort Kimber.” There, after a long career in the legal industry, I picked up the paintbrush again and haven’t stopped!
In 2022, we moved to the fabled old town of Taos, New Mexico, and made it our home. I joined the Taos Watercolor Society right away and am grateful to have met so many other artists and creatives in this wonderful art-focused community.
My experience
While attending the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where I studied painting and “intermedia” for two years, I became interested in film and made a few Super8 millimeter movies, even though there was no film department. I had a terrific teacher and mentor, Siah Armajani, a well-known sculptor, painter, architect, and conceptual artist, who encouraged me to pursue film. After two years, I was given the opportunity to transfer to a sister college of art, the San Francisco Art Institute, where I studied film and photography, and also modeled in life drawing classes for the well-known teacher and abstract painter Sam Tchakalian. Sam became a great friend and mentor. I learned a ton about painting from Sam!
After graduation, I made my Magnum Opus, a 16 mm color, sync-sound film, entitled “Miles of Time,” with the soundtrack by the Jim Lowe Trio, who had just cut an album of the same name. To support myself, I took a job with a law firm, and I ended up working for lawyers for the next nearly 40 years, including as a Chief Marketing Officer, and later, starting my own consulting firm, Fort Kimber Partners.
Finally, all of the creative endeavors in legal marketing spurred me to return to my true love—ART. I retired completely from the legal industry in 2020 and began painting in earnest! I continue to take classes and workshops and participate in Plein Air outings, and critiques, constantly striving to improve and learn from other artists.
My vision
I am inspired by the Impressionists and Abstract Expressionists. My favorite artists are Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Salvador Dali, along with Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Elaine de Kooning, and Georgia O’Keeffe. I have always been attracted to mountains, rivers, wilderness, and all aspects of Native American life, including folktales and mystical and spiritual legends. I find inspiration in all of the outdoors, including the sky, stars, clouds, animals, birds, flowers, and gardens. I primarily work in watercolor and gouache, but also use colored pencils, charcoal, pastels, and ink. Art is an ever-evolving pursuit, and while I tend to focus on nature and landscapes, I enjoy painting abstracts and most recently, people-oriented themes. While my style is very fluid, I am interested in finding new ways to explore color and light and discover novel techniques with water media. I invite you to browse through the gallery, and I hope you enjoy what you see!
Contact me
For more information, or to purchase a piece, please fill out the contact form and if you are interested in following my art journey, please sign up for my email newsletter.