While working towards a degree in painting and philosophy at Wake Forest University, Tina studied art history in Venice, Italy—a city famous not only for its breathtaking architecture, but also for its artistry and innovation in the field of glass making. Impressed with the intensity of color and the play of light in the glass, she began incorporating these elements into her painting. In April, 1996 she installed her first solo exhibition, "Here Now," in the Wake Forest University gallery. The exhibition—a series of twelve portraits—touched on the difficulty of forming community in our fragmented and highly mobile society.

After finishing her university studies, Tina moved back to Venice, Italy where she worked on her first design for stained glass. The window she designed is now installed in a prayer chapel on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She then moved to Sofia, Bulgaria where she worked for two years as a teacher. There she received a commission from Southwestern Seminary to begin designs for two large octagonal windows which would be suspended from glass ceilings. The windows, an interpretation of the seminary’s theme, “Touch the World, Impact Eternity,” are naturally lit by the searing Texas sun. Tina currently lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she works as a graphic designer.