Described by Art New England magazine as “…gestural realist landscapes with the overall effect of speeding through layers of lighted space,” Daryl’s oil paintings are a colorful tribute to the back roads and vistas of New England from which she gets inspiration while motorcycling.

Born in Manhattan, Daryl’s parents moved with her two older sisters to the suburbs when she was two. Armonk, NY provided lots of opportunities to play in wild forests, ice skate on large lakes, visit NYC Museums often, and to attend the annual summer outdoor Art Show. She loved annual Girl Scout camp in upstate New York. Her High School art teacher, Gerry Rinaldi, prompted all his students to observe, stretch and practice art. She starred in many musicals, singing and dancing under the direction of Gene Bissell. She was the first girl to take Mechanical Drawing in her high school, having to plead with the guidance counselor for permission to do so. She likes to tell the story of her first day in class when Mr. Ruthizer took out a drawing implement: “This is a pencil. I am going to show you how to sharpen it”. She knew immediately she was in the right class. She graduated with her still best friend, Redenta Soprano, a botanical illustrator.

After graduating Hope College in Holland, MI with a degree in fine arts and a minor in Ancient Civilization, Daryl toured the country doing outdoor art shows and selling her work through galleries in the Northeast US. She also freelanced as a graphic designer.

She married Corky Benson, a software engineer in 1982 and moved to New Haven, CT where she maintained a loft studio in the Marlin Building. In 1988 they moved to Candia, NH and started a family.

Today she lives with her husband in New Orleans, LA.

BFA, Hope College, 1975

Postgrad., University Cincinnati, 1976

Postgrad., Art Student’s League, New York City, 1978

Postgrad., Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT 1988

Postgrad., New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, 2021