Biography

Hello~! I was born in Bklyn NY and started art lessons at 5 yrs old and continued in private lessons throughout my school years, exhibiting and selling my art since grade school. I was awarded the Freshman Art Award from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC when I was 14.

The same year I was invited to show and sell my artwork at the Annual Sailors Snug Harbor Art Show & Sale and sold out all my artworks within as few hours, while artists around me still had more to sell. I then began taking commissions for teachers, doctors, lawyers, stock brokers and store owners...

I am 3rd to the oldest of 14 brothers and sisters from NYC.We are a tight knit family. The family is artists and/or musicians, but also most are members of NYPD & NYFD and all survived 9/11 [even though one brother was just on his way there for work that day~ God is good to my family..:)

During the summers as I grew up, my family would vacation in Maine, travelling along the New England coastline, where I developed a love for lighthouses and painting seascapes. I also loved going to the countryside in Pennsylvania and gaining inspiration to do rural scenery and then displayed and sold them in NYC.<

I received my Grandfathers drawing board when he died back in 1968,He was an artist all his life and supported his family during the Great Depression by doing sign work , mostly price reductions for stores and window displays. I followed in my Grandfathers footsteps, doing signs, murals and paintings all my life as well.

Of my generation I have 5 children but recently my baby sister[she's 41] gave birth to her #5 child making the grandkid generation to span 38 years~! I dont know how many grandkids and great grandkids there are.

I have 11 grandkids myself with more to come for sure.Now that I am free from raising kids, I devote all my time to my art and networking art pursuits as I live in a little farmhouse off a dairy farm in north central Pennsylvania.Cant beat that 'dairy air:' [except with a mask, lol]

Anyway I was born in Brooklyn. Lived there til I was 10 and grew up on Staten Island. I had an accident in 1984 falling through a window with my right hand and ruined it. It has taken many years to regain some of it's use.

My art business was gone overnite and when I lost my shop & home, I lived in shelters with 3 of my kids while pregnant with #4. I decided to leave NYC for a more tranquil life and settled in the country to raise my kids.

As I got limited use of my hand back, I developed other illnesses leaving me permanently disabled, but able to function and remain independent.

With God's mercy and several additional surgeries, I began to get some limited use of my hand back and over the years . I have been able to commence painting and drawing again..24+ years post op, my doctors were thoroughly amazed at sudden nerve regeneration that they couldnt explain and until last year I was painting all the time...

I give God all the glory for the amount of use I got back at all .

I am now semi-retired and back living in Pennsylvania, after briefly living out west and am continuing my art full time.

Although I have been away from the sea many years I still like to do seascapes along with my landscapes..

When my hand isnt hurting too much I like to do Pen & Ink illustrations and pencil drawings, when the mood strikes, but I tend to do more digital paintings now, than anything else... It is a pleasure to be on this site and I hope to share and learn from the other artists here as well as hope to meet some people who would be interested in my work...

My daughter gave me this computer 2 years ago when she got married and I have been on it at least 20 hours a day ever since. I have self taught myself to do digital art and printing so I make my own giclee prints and have now aquired 5 printers thanks to deals on Ebay, where I buy all my materials too.

So far what I have made in internet sales, has covered my materials and printing needs. I am gradually building a new internet art business by putting in everything I make back into it and working long hard hours learning everything I can about seling art online,

As I have been learning, I see other struggling artists that haven't gotten as far as I have yet, so I like to help them along so they can get further faster & not have to repeat mistakes I have made along the way, so I am willing to help anyone who needs it to share what I have already learned and look for others out there who will share with me what they have learned,.

Together we can all make a difference and become successful online without having to pay all those fees promoters look for..I cant afford promoters so I promote myself and others I meet.

I am dedicated to making a difference before I get offline or die, so I will have something to leave my children and grandchildren to make them proud~!

Thankyou for reading this and have a great day~! Ave God bless you and have a great day! Ave