Once upon a time, fresh out of art school, I dreamed of seeing my work in the pages of Hi-Fructose and Juxtapoz. However looking back, I had no idea what I wanted my art to say—because I didn’t quite know who I was yet. So, instead of picking up a paintbrush and submitting to open calls, I picked up years of bizarre and wonderful life experience.

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📍 Shohola, PA – I grew up in the vibrant colors of the ’90s, on the rolling hillsides of Pennsylvania – catching salamanders, being chased by chickens, and being fueled by Nickelodeon and Crayola. (Plot twist: I later interned at Crayola. Manifesting works, y’all.)

📍 Kutztown, PA – Got my BFA in Graphic Design & Illustration in a tiny town surrounded by Amish farms.

📍 San Francisco, CA – Earned my MFA in Art Direction, got really into silkscreen printing, and learned the fine art of serving and drinking overpriced coffee.

📍 Chicago, IL – Became an art director at a big fancy ad agency. (Turns out, selling cereal and underarm deodorant wasn’t my calling.) Realized capitalism makes my soul cry and put in my 2 weeks notice.

📍 Portland, OR – Uhauled my cat and an absurdly large book collection across the country (twice). Became a street artist, wheat-pasting big pink vaginas on walls all around the PNW at night. Freelanced at small design shops, became the creative director of a digital startup designing an app, taught university classes at The Art Institute of Portland, meditated in silence on a mountaintop for 10 days and got my mind absolutely rocked, and dove deep into the world of yoga. Made 3 pilgrimages to India, shaved my head in Thailand, wore the beads, learned Sanskrit, and ended up spending 8 years studying and teaching yoga philosophy, hoping to help people reconnect with themselves. Accidently reconnected with myself instead.

📍 Back Home to PA – Donated all my belongings and moved home to care for my aging parents (my most challenging job to date). Started my own yoga business during lockdown, held retreats and trainings on Zoom, and built an online and in-person yoga community. Cared for my father and witnessed his health decline from his long fought battle with Parkinson’s disease. Repainted my childhood home to look like one of my illustrations, and once I ran out of surfaces, started painting big, colorful butterflies on canvas. Said goodbye to Dad last summer, held a beach-karaoke themed celebration-of-life party for him, and somewhere amidst my grief, art came flooding back full force – and this time, I knew what I stood for and had something to say.

 

Today, I am a full-time mixed media artist, illustrator, and designer, dedicated to creating safe spaces—both in my art and in the world. My work explores the relationship between joy and grief, home and belonging, and the juxtaposition of the fantastic and the mundane. I aim to create spaces that feel both nostalgically familiar and wondrously enchanted—places that viewers can escape to and find themselves within. My latest series "Lo-Fi Studio Dreams" seeks to reignite the curiosity and optimism often lost in adulthood, inviting viewers into vibrantly colored worlds crafted with ink, pastel, colored pencil, and acrylic on paper. These intimate, dreamlike environments serve as mini sanctuaries for rest and preservation — safe spaces, in an often turbulent world.

 

If for some reason (likely insanity) you want to hear even more about my story, particularly big life pivots and the chapter with my Dad, I was recently interviewed by Canvas Rebel Magazine. Check it out here!