This is my very first oil painting! I was 14 years old when I painted it. I had done many pencil drawings before I painted this picture. My mother painted with oils all the time and I told her I wanted to learn how to paint.

She was very patient with me.....I remember complaining more than a little bit that I couldn't paint. She kept encouraging me and this is the end result.

It now hangs in my studio! It is one of the first things I see when I walk through the door. It is a reminder of many things, but mostly of my Mom and her patience and kind words as I struggled through this piece.

I didn't immediately begin working exclusively in oils though. I kept doing graphite drawings and then I moved on to colored pencils. It wasn't until 2004 that I started painting with oils again.