For over thirty years, I practiced law – litigating cases and doing sports deals at Foley & Lardner LLP.  I loved my work, but in the summer of 2019, I happily retired to Egg Harbor, Wisconsin on the shores of Green Bay. A few months before retirement, I took watercolor classes at the local community center with a friend. And I was hooked!  I made sure our newly built home included a large, well-lit art studio.  And I began taking classes in earnest – discovering Peninsula School of Art, a  Door County art school that invites nationally recognized artists to teach workshops throughout the summer and fall. I learned from some amazing artists and met some great new friends along the way.  

I found a  whole new way of looking at life and the world around me.  And I irritated my poor husband, Jim, by insisting that we stop repeatedly along hikes to take just the right picture — from multiple angles, of course!   Retirement freed me (and Jim) from the toils of legal practice and billable hours so that we have plenty of time to travel.  While COVID postponed trips to Europe, we still traveled throughout the United States to visit friends and family dispersed across the country and to hike the National Parks.

We are also blessed to live in a beautiful place.  On the shores of the largest fresh water estuary in the world, we are just north of the 45th parallel, where the sun shines from early morning to late evening throughout the summer. Fall is an explosion of color. Winter is silent – but a blanket of fresh snow and a clear day means shadows of blue and pink and purple.  

All of this gives me plenty of inspiration. Since retirement, I have painted over 350 paintings – some were quite a mess, but others turned out okay.  I keep at it, taking classes from new instructors and a few instructors who are now old friends.  What a joy to have discovered this new way of looking at the world!