From the day I could hold a crayon, I have had paper under it. My mom is an artist and my dad is an architect so I have always been surrounded by art and visuals stimulation. I remember waking up at 5 a.m. and creeping out into the silent living room to my little, round art table. I would sit there for hours drawing or sculpting, and listening to story tapes until the sun rose.  Even at such a young age, creating felt like a natural thing to me, and I always had the desire to express myself through art.    

Creative support at school

I started my education in a Waldorf School, which was very creatively supportive. In 7th grade I decided to home school. Around the same time I started creating sculptural dolls made of sculpy, wire, and fabric. Whenever I would begin molding the piece of flesh colored clay I would get a surge of happiness and excitement. I was creating something and no one was telling me how I had to do it.  A year later I was asked to be in a show with two adult artists. One was a sculptor, the other an amazing fashion designer. I sold many pieces there and than go commissions. This experience was the first little taste I had of what the “art world” is like and I found it overwhelming, but exciting.

I graduated from Bayview School in 2004. In the fall of 2005, I began my education at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. I am currently working on a BFA in fine art with with specialty in painting and video.
 
Opportunities outside of school

When I was 14 I started taking painting classes with a very respected artist on Whidbey Island and Seattle, Pete Jordan. He patiently taught me how to use watercolors and oils. I was one of only a couple of students and studied with him for over five years.

A few years ago I became interested in a different art form: theatre and film makeup. Not having any experience in makeup I decided to ask a local children’s theatre director if I could help out on one of her shows. She let me. From than on I have learned as much as I could and did makeup for many of the local theatre productions and a few in Seattle. I had the chance to use my creativity to the fullest when I was asked to design the makeup for two plays, and was given a lot of creative freedom in fashioning the characters. Although it was stressful at times to design everything by myself, when I was finished I had realized how much I had learned and accomplished.

Travel

Seeing how other people live and do art is extremly important to me. I have had the chance to backpack around Europe and see some of the most respected art in the world. I saw Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Picasso, and Turner. But sometimes the most inspiring work is not in museums or galleries. Among many street artists and musicians, I saw men tediously drawing on the sidewalk amazing reproductions of famous art, only for them to be washed away by the morning rain.  In Prague I met a women who had been painting while she was behind the Iron Curtain. Her paintings were so strong and raw with the reality of what she was experiencing. I realized art was not just creating something beautiful, it can be a vessel for things you cannot express with words.

Earlier this summer I took a trip to Cruz Verde, a small village in the Dominican Republic. I went there with the Sister Island Project, a nonprofit organization that brings volunteers to teach and help out within the community. During my time there I taught art to children ages 4 to 15, immersing myself in their culture. I immediately fell in love with these people, and ended up taking over 600 photos.

When I came home, I started painting from those photos. I was immensely inspired by my experiences, and wanted to portray something of what I felt when I was in this small village. Although the Dominicans there were extremely poor, I was stunned by the happiness and excitement that radiated from them. I was so inspired by the contrast between their lives and their aptitude towards their lives. I couldn't help but compare these Dominican children to American children, who have virtually everything, but are so unhappy and dissatisfied.

With these pieces, it is my goal to portray a feeling, an emotion through my paint strokes; the contrast between these gorgeous happy children and the world they live in, which to them is so beautiful in its rawness . I can only hope the viewer will translate these marks and understand even a fraction of what I felt. And maybe, from these paintings, inspired by experiences, will blossom some idea or thought in the viewer. In this way, there will have been made a connection between two totally different worlds, two completely unique ways of life, and I will be successful.