Cali grew up next to a dairy farm in Vermont, the oldest of four kids born to a teacher and a nurse. She began drawing early - at a time when she didn’t know there was a specific word for drawing and instead called it ‘writing’. She and her siblings were encouraged to be outside as much as possible in all seasons, but that was limited by Vermont’s hard winters, which is when Cali found time to draw. Early dreams of becoming a jockey (her second passion is horses) were sidelined around the time she passed 5’ in height.
She had very limited experience with art in any form until hitting art school immediately after high school. Her baffled parents supported her through art school, despite vast misgivings about financial security. She started work as a graphic designer after graduation with a BFA in illustration, because creating a freelance illustration career seemed impossible, at the time.
Life followed soon after and artistic pursuits were mostly set aside in favor of raising two much loved kids of her own. Cali returned to figure drawing once a week when the kids were old enough to be alone, and that confirmed her desire to do more. Highly demanding corporate jobs in her design career effectively consumed most of her free time, so she took a sidestep into a much less demanding job in 2016, which allowed more time for painting and drawing.
In mid 2020, Cali was COVID retired from the corporate world, opening up a lot more time for art, thanks to a supportive spouse. Relocation back to the northeast from Florida in early 2025 is a coming home for Cali, and it’s accompanied by renewed energy and interest in everything the Capitol Region has to offer in the way of culture, outdoors and landscape.
Cali’s life long love of horses and interest in the human/horse relationship is reflected in her oil paintings of horses and riders. She produces charcoal portraits of people and pets on commission, and has done several of family and friends for herself and them. She continues work on a couple of oil painting series in development.
Cali was a regular exhibitor at Nude Nite Orlando, an annual art event celebrating the nude in art. Her drawings and painting are in many private collections, some through a gallery in St Augustine, Florida, where she was represented for several years prior to 2020. She can be seen regularly sketching in Saratoga Springs, exploring the abundant natural and architectural beauty of the city.
Cali can be contacted about current work, commissions or anything else through Instagram or email via the form below.
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