about

In 2004, I received a degree in Mixed Media Art from Western Washington University. After leaving my hometown of Bellingham, WA in 2006, I found a new home in Portland, OR.

My art making is a intuitive, therapeutic process. There are generally no laid out plans. I trust that things will evolve as I go, and that always seems to work. Sometimes it takes layer after layer of painting, wiping, drawing, watching, scratching, and experimenting until I like what I see. When I reach a rough patch with a piece, I try to remove myself and work on something else, or altogether stop and then revisit the piece with a fresh eye on a new day.

My dad gave me a set of wood carving tools when I was ten, after noticing I had been using a flat head screwdriver to carve pictures into his scraps of cedar. The new tools proved to be much more effective! After that, there was a period when I was giving my whole family woodcarvings as gifts. This early desire to etch and create texture has stayed with me today; I often etch patterns and images into wax, scratchboard, or simply use the other end of a paintbrush to scratch into wet paint.

Botanical imagery often appears in my work. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, hiking in the Cascades, not to mention being born into a family of gardeners has surely influenced my interest in the nature around us. The complex design of plant life fascinates me; vibrant colors, textures, shapes. I enjoy going on neighborhood walks and collecting plant matter to incorporate into my work; whether to use as a drawing or painting guide, or to dry and press directly into collages.

After college, I stopped stretching canvases and began painting onto small scraps of wood. I became comfortable painting directly onto many types of found wood, and was pleased to be reusing materials.

Today, I continue to use found objects whenever possible, whether they be old maps, books, buttons, or ribbon for collage, reclaimed ceramic kitchen tiles for coasters, or scrap wood for paintings and prints.