I came from the smaller town of Davison Michigan, where I had an art studio in my parents basement growing up. The process of creation and having that outlet in my life has been extremely integral to who I am as an individual. I graduated with a Fine Arts Degree from Western Michigan University, after winning the Best of Show Award at the annual students art show. Shortly after graduation, I was awarded the Emerging Artist Grant from the Kalamazoo Arts Council to complete a smaller series of eleven paintings based on a series of poems titled "Road Noise" by nationally renowned poet Mark Turcotte. I then moved to Chicago to further pursue my artistic career.
I find human beings to be the most inextricably fascinating subject matter to work with. My paintings deal a lot with vulnerability and the recesses of psyche - the psyches of my current subjects as I have known them or am getting to know them as I paint them, as well as my own inner workings. The turbulences and transitions of emotions play a huge role in my artistic focus. I have been working with the Nine Day Wonder concept for a year now, a concept rooted in ephemerality and constant transitioning. This will be an ongoing self portrait series for the rest of my life. Concurrently, I have a new series underway based on the undercurrents of fear and the closely linked vulnerability that comes with those fears.