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 "I love the work of the Impressionists most of all,"  Retta says, "but I also appreciate all styles of art, just as long as they speak to me in some manner.  It can be a soft watercolor by some unknown or it can be the brash sort of Van Gogh style -- or even cubism and minimalism --  . if it is GOOD.  I would hate to think that I would ever get so rigid in my preferences that I could not appreciate any given style.  I feel that art has to have HEART, and whenever someone tells me that my own creations have that element, I consider that to be the ultimate compliment."

Born in St. Augustine, Florida, Retta has memories of the sun, the sand, and the sea, and those recollections have influenced numerous paintings she has done.  "I can't help it...I just stare at a blank canvas and I see palm trees, and sand...and the ocean's waves.  I am driven to paint them;  I guess it is just a part of me.  I can't paint something just because it's in vogue at any given time;  I have to see it in my mind's eye -- I have to feel it in order to paint it."
 

 Retta's subject matter is not limited to sun and surf.  She is equally content in capturing the essence of a southwest setting, a rural southern landscape or tranquil settings devoid of people and man-made intrusions into what she terms her "perfect world scenarios."  No single style describes what she paints;  she simply paints what she feels.  She describes her works rather unceremoniously, using terms like  "strictly commercial office artwork," "somewhat primitive realism," and "my funky abstracts."  Her palette can range from muted naturals to bold, vivid, and extravagant explosions of vibrant colors.