I owe my creative nature to my mom, Kathy Wilson, who taught me how to see things with an artists eye.  Whether it was wiring wreaths at Christmas, designing valentines, or painting with a  juniper branch,  she taught me how to have confidence and style in all that I did.  

When I moved to California in 1999, I learned how to put some structure to my creativity.  I began taking classes at O'Neill's Fine Art Studio in Malibu and learned, for the first time, how to paint and draw what I saw.  I remember taking my first class and thinking "Oh, so THATS how you do it!"  The O'Neill's were able to give me something I'd never had, an actual art lesson!  Yes, it's true that I have always been artistic, but the O'Neill's made me an Artist.  

I began teaching art to kids at O'Neill's in 2000.  I'm still there and run their kids program.

 This is a plein-air painting I did of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  The water was really  that blue! 

 Here's a series I painted of Venice Beach, California.  I've lived here for about 5 years and it never fails to excite me.   It's truly an artist's community.  There's the crazy Venice boardwalk, of course.  There you'll find street performers, tattoo artists, piercings, knock-off Gucci sunglasses, Asian luggage, counter-culture T-shirts, graffiti art, and loads and loads of tourists from all over.  It's great people watching.

But off the boardwalk you'll find the true Venice.  The place I'm proud to call my home.  The streets are quaint and friendly.  Venice's uprise happened in the early 1900's when Abbot Kinney envisioned a town that mirrored Venice, Italy, with a California flare.  There are still a few streets that line water filled canals.  The main architecture of the homes in the neighborhoods are craftsman bungalows.  There are also several "walking streets" in Venice that are accessed only by a walkway.  Very cute to paint.  

Here are a few portraits I've painted.

 The mountain climber is my dad, Ted Wilson.  He's an avid mountaineer, so I found it appropriate to paint him in his climbing get-up.  When I asked him to pose for this portrait, he came out wearing those hideous florescent green boots.  When I asked him if he had another pair, he responded, "these are the boots that went up the mountain."  Well, you can't argue with that, now can you. 

This painting is my husband Gibran.  It's actually painted from a photograph of his headshot.  You'll have to ask him about his moonlighting career in show business.

This is Gibran and my baby girl Cassidy Star. 

Here's a few more still lifes and other stuff.

Here's a couple of watercolors. 

This is a commission I did while we were on vacation in the Caribbean.  I was painting on the beach and a woman approached me and asked if I would paint the view where she got engaged.  I was honored to paint this for them and it helped pay for our vacation.  See, it sometimes does pay to be an artist!   

 This is an illustration job I did in December of 2007 for a Jewish organization called Mazon.  The illustrations portray the eight days of Chanukah.  They're all done in pastel.