About Me: Raised in Grant, Michigan, Lori Beth grew up as the eldest of two children. Early on, her creativity was evident. At the age of six, she drew two roses with charcoal that her cousin let her use--a drawing her mother still cherishes to this day. After that, every birthday and Christmas, art supplies were on Lori Beth's wish list. At the age of 17, her natural talent drew the attention of a local well-known artist who wanted to take her under his wing and teach her the finer points of her craft. Although, her parents didn't take the artist up on his offer, Lori Beth did take a class and continued to advance her talent. By age 21, with only one formal art class, Lori Beth was already selling some of her paintings to local business people who saw and admired her work. After she married, she gave up art for a while, but after her divorce, she started to paint again, and she found her inspiration in the Bahamas. "The beauty of the Bahamas was incredible. I felt at home the moment I stepped off the plane and knew I wanted to paint the beauty I saw all around me." Her work was well received in the Bahamas where she sold several watercolors to tourists who watched her create the detailed flowers and landscapes of the islands. Soon Lori Beth realized that painting and drawing were not enough. She needed an additional outlet for her creativity. She found this in the form of writing romance novels. Currently, she is still writing and has two novels which are near completion. Writing opened a new world to her and awakened her love of international travel. With her words, she vibrantly described places she had never seen with the detail of someone well traveled. Whilst doing research for her books, she realized that she didn't want to just write about the locations of her books, she also wanted to visit them. The opportunity to do just that happened when she was invited to visit a friend in England. He made it possible for her to experience a culture vastly different from the conservative culture she had always known. It was during her trip to England that the photography bug bit Lori Beth. "I loved capturing the life of London and the English countryside. The vibrant colors were all around me, and I felt drawn to its energy. Around every corner there was something historical or interesting to shoot." She started taking photos of all the things she saw, and when she returned home, her photographs received high accolades. She was encouraged by a professional photographer to pursue photography as her natural talent for composition and story telling was evident in her photos. Lori Beth is hoping to return to England to create a photographic journal, which she hopes to have published. Additionally, she wants to go to Italy and other European countries to do the same. In the mean time, she continues to work on her craft by photographing still-lifes, landscapes, architecture, and people.

Favorite Artists: Monet