Norma was born in Conrad, Montana. Her family moved to Great Falls and then on to Billings. At 19 she followed her family to Seeley Lake and at 34, she found herself in Hamilton.

After retiring from her 30+ years as a successful tax practitioner, she began her career in fine art in 2007.

Being a self-taught artist, Norma experimented with different mediums and subjects and worked her way back to oil and her favorite subjects: wildlife, western subjects and portraits.  As the result of workshops, research and experimentation, she has become an award-winning artist and quickly gained recognition for her work.

Artist Statement

Art like music, are both unspoken languages, and I'm passionate about both. Each brushstroke, each musical note, when put together, creates a story. The way I tell the story through my works of art, represents the way I view life around me. In this fast paced world, my hope is to slow things down for a bit, causing the viewer to take pause, if only for a moment and enjoy the visual interpretation I’ve presented in front of them.

As a child I loved art and my first blue ribbon was for a finger painting I did in the first grade.  Art has always played a huge role in my life in one form or another. After retirement, I took up my brushes once again and started on a new journey toward an art career. 

My inspiration usually begins as a fleeting moment when I've made an emotional connection with my subject. I follow that moment with sketching and studying my subject to best decide how I want to interpret its story.  I most always paint from photos or a compilation of photos that I’ve taken.  Sometimes I will transfer a drawing to my canvas, other times I sketch right on the canvas with turpentine and burnt sienna. I lay in an underpainting with thin paint focusing on values and temperature, let it set up or dry before I paint the next layer, and continue to layer and glaze to a finish, much like the Old Masters method.

My focus is on the story of the subject, whether it is of a animal, a person or a subject. Each painting I complete is a learning process and I look forward to each one.

 My preferred medium is oil, for the richness and depth I can get from it and for how it retains its brilliance.  In addition, I only sell original works, first to assure the buyer that they will never see the same piece on their best friend’s wall and to preserve the richness of original oil.

 My day is not complete if I'm not painting. Each new piece I create leads me to the next. I am so blessed to be an artist and I thank God for my talents. As an artist, the world is a much more interesting place with beauty everywhere.