The Inspiration

My work is inspired by the "both/and" that makes up the feminine experience. Like gardens, women have both roots strong enough to hold up fruit trees and soil gentle enough to make way for budding flowers. Our lives consist of opposing experiences harmonized together into a beautiful melancholy of abundance and scarcity, hope and grief, romance and resilience. And it is here that I am most intrigued; capturing these poetic contrasts through the intimacy of storytelling.

Although I often paint women, the feminine is more about how we see the world and less about the subject matter. It is a way of experiencing everyday life like a garden overflowing with abundance and luxury yet pruned with purpose and toil. This perfectly balanced contrast, I believe, is the true mystery of the feminine.

Why Artwork & Poetry?

Both art and storytelling have been a constant part of my life. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting with my mom as she drew portraits or staying up late at night with my siblings as we begged my dad to read just one more chapter of The Chronicles of Narnia. She was the artist, and he was the storyteller. This duo led to opportunities outside of the home as “chalk talk” performances – essentially a live narrated art experience where one person creates a beautiful drawing while the other tells a story. When I felt a tug on my heart to share stories of hope through art, it was only natural to combine the visual with the written. By leaning into the complexity of a painting while pairing it with the simplicity of a poem, I find a beautifully balanced story for both the artist and the viewer alike. 

Behind the Process

Through a mixed media process, I explore the mystery of the feminine by creating layer after layer with a mindset of abundance, allowing the paint to drip in excess like the sweet nectar of a fruit tree. Colors and patterns are expressed using intuitive brush strokes and sharp palette knife movements inspired by the idea that feminine luxury is both plush like rose petals and refined like delicate jewelry. And finally, through deep contrasts of light and dark, I explore the rich dichotomy of women that is equally strong and tender, wise and romantic, brave and gentle.