My personal art school was circumstance: In my late 20’s I was hit with MS. While I had always been “Donna the dancer,” suddenly I was bedridden.  I lay there watching the world – really seeing as only someone who is so still can. I saw light and shadow, line and color. I studied the art on my walls stroke by stroke, and when I emerged I began painting.  My eye now attuned, I had to train my hand. I began with studies of the simple beauty around me. Eventually I took a leap and began painting the faces I knew so well.  They too were just light and shadow, line and color. 

In painting portraits I want to capture the tenderness of the subject: their moment of joy, openness, vulnerability. Capturing a true feeling is all-important to me. Each painting is a new beginning and a continued opportunity to learn. This beginner’s mind keeps me present and grounded.  It has been my buoy in the rough seas of MS. It keeps me going when the loss and disability have brought me down, generating beauty and creating a new reason to live each day.