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 hidden gem of an art school, surrounded by Amish farms.

📍 San Francisco, CA – Earned my MFA in Art Direction for Advertising, 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 called Leo Burnett. (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 9 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 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 in August 2024, 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, dedicated to creating safe & courageous 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 combine ink, pastel, gouache, colored pencil, and acrylic to create vibrant worlds that feel both nostalgically familiar and wondrously enchanted—places to escape to, and places to find oneself within. My most recent work centers around remembering wholeness—championing the moments when we feel most comfortable in our own skin. My art is infused with irreverent humor, child-like wonder, and radical hope, with each piece offering a bright, strange, and sincere invitation to feel more, question more, and perhaps even laugh a little.

 

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!