I grew up in Salt Lake City and live now in Sandy, Utah. For years I felt drawn to art but never made it a real part of my life. I was busy doing other things, including six years flying for the airlines, until I realized that path wasn't the right one for me.
I’ve always loved bright, bold color, but never thought of myself as a creative person. The pull toward art kept showing up anyway, and about a year ago I started studying through Watts Atelier online. That's when I got serious about making art, and it's what keeps me in the studio now.
Artist Statement
My work lives in the space where control and surrender sit next to each other, sometimes coexisting, sometimes at war. A face rendered tight and specific, then a body that dissolves into pattern and color and mark-making. I live with a lot of anxiety, and control is usually how I manage it. This work is where I try to let it go, though I don't always manage it. The structure, the geometric patterns, is the part that holds on. The dissolving is the part reaching for release, even when it doesn't fully get there. I paint them both because that's actually what it feels like. Not resolution, but the pull between the two happening at once. The bold color isn't decoration, it’s me refusing to apologize for who I am. The rendering close to the face is the part I let people see clearly. The abstraction spreading out from it is a piece of what's underneath, the inside of me I don't usually show. I want to be seen. I'm also scared of being seen. My art is where all of these opposing forces can co-exist.