Isabel received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1973. She taught life drawing in Austin from 1976 to 1982. She became interested in using pastels as her primary medium in 1977 and used them in the 1980s for commissioned portraitures. In 1993 she studied under the noted pastelist Harley Brown.

While she has painted since childhood, it is only since her marriage in 1991 that she has pursued art as a career. One of the major events that motivated her into actively pursuing her art career was the placement in 1991 of her portrait of the humorist John Henry Faulk in the permanent collection of the Barker History Center at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library.

After collecting several current paintings as a base for her portfolio, Isabel began entering national juried competitions in 1993. During the next 5 years she was in over 60 shows, winning numerous awards. Her art has been on display over the last 10 years at Skandinavia Contemporary Interiors, one of Austin's finer furnishings stores. In 1996 the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi purchased one of her paintings for its permanent collection. Private collectors throughout the country own many more of her paintings.

Isabel resides in Austin with her husband, two cats, and a yard full of trees, birds, and squirrels.