I was born and raised in southwestern Montana, and lived there until I was 26.  I grew up on a small farm where we had all sorts of animals, big gardens and a McIntosh orchard.  My parents, as well as former ranchers, were jazz musicians and nearly everyone in my father's family were as well, so music was a big part of my life.  I would play out in the fields all day then come inside, get cleaned up and go to hear the Missoula Symphony in the evening.  I remember the first time I heard the orchestra tuning, when I was about 4 years old.  I was fascinated!  The sound of the lower strings nailed me, and I knew I had to be a part of that!  I began studying the cello when I was 10  and until I moved from Montana, years later, my life totally revolved around music.  When my husband Scott and I relocated to the Oregon coast, I moved away from the symphony and filled the musical void with bird song.  Though I was always drawing as a child, only when we moved to Oregon did I began seriously studying art, realizing I loved to paint the birds and landscape surrounding me.  That shift in focus was the beginning of an amazing and rewarding journey that has deepend my love of and reverence for nature.