"Drawing was my joy, even as a child of 7 years, when I filled notebooks with sketches of horses.  It was a beloved hobby until college days, when it blossomed into the  passion of a lifetime.  During my junior year at Kennesaw State University,  I found myself in fascinating classes on printmaking, drawing and painting.  Together they stirred up a serious interest in studying and creating art.  I'd been  working part-time at a local gallery/frame shop since 1975 and it was there that I found out about Prismacolor colored pencils, and everything 'clicked'.  Being able to put color to the sketches I loved to do made me realize I wanted to be a professional artist.      These days I specialize in creating landscapes and portraits with colorful soft pastel sticks, but back in 1980, just out of college I began my career as a wildlife artist.  As a long-time birdwatcher, the first subjects I drew with colored pencils were birds and immediately I knew I'd found my calling.  It was such a joy to draw birds as well as wildlife and other animals that for over 15 years I exhibited my wildlife art at festivals and gallery exhibits. My husband and I had always agreed that it was important for me to stay home once our family began, so I established a studio in our home when our son was born in 1983; daughter Lauren arrived in 1988 and it was her interest in horses at the age of 11 that revived my interest in drawing horses.  She began taking riding lessons at Impossible Dream Farm in Cedartown, and since I was around the horses there at the barn and eventually at the horse shows too, how could I resist such beautiful creatures?   Drawing them once again feels both familiar and like an exciting new adventure!  I combine landscape art and equine interests in specialized landscape such as these drawings of two Georgia stables.  The first is Friday Farm in Alpharetta, owned and operated by Barb and John J. Goda II.  John commissioned me to create this pastel drawing of their barn as a surprise birthday present for Barb in 2003.  Next is Impossible Dream Farm in Cedartown, owned and operated by Jeanie Waddell and John G. Goda III; John II is the trainer there and is Lauren's riding instructor, and he requested that I do this drawing in 2001. Prices for custom landscapes such as these begin at $300 for a 16" x 20".  I can work from photos you provide, or I can come photograph your stable at a convenient time.