I was born in Yankton, South Dakota…
that’s the southeast corner
Some basic info: I have a mom, a (step)dad, an older brother, and a younger brother, a million aunts, uncles, and cousins, my sweet husband, and 3 (step) kids. The “step” is in there for context; I feel so lucky to have these kids in my life, and I’m grateful my stepdad *stepped* up into his role in my life and inspired me to become a stepparent too. They’re really my bonus family, that I didn’t expect to have but I’m so happy I do. I also have 2 dogs, 4 cats, a bunny and a hamster, in my little home in Tennessee.
I am ambitious and distracted
and ANXIOUS
While I’m taking care of my mental health as best as I can, I do struggle with depression, anxiety, and adhd, which makes creating art very difficult sometimes.
I’m doing my best though, I promise.
“I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart”
Vincent Van Gogh
I grew up knowing I’d be an artist, from the first picture book I made as a small child to drawing anime in middle school to my first art show in high school. I went to college at the University of South Dakota, where I learned print making, ceramics, sculpture, film photography, graphic design, and, my specialty, painting. I also got minors in theater and art history. I had originally wanted to double major in theater and art but my advisor said that would be a bad idea to do two project oriented majors at the same time. OOPS, I just like making things harder for myself! And my senior year was definitely hard, I was really struggling with my mental health, I had an advisor who didn’t have my best interests at heart, and I decided to paint giant 4 feet by 7 feet portraits of people also struggling with mental illness. I partnered with NAMI to accomplish this project, and it was well worth it, as everyone told me how impactful my paintings were at my senior show. I am now currently working on more mental health paintings, producing 4 different comics, writing short stories, poetry, memoirs, creating stickers and prints and other merch for my patreon, collaborating with friends on projects like my chess paintings and dance pieces, and honestly, just anything that makes my little artist heart happy and busy. I don’t get much done, except for the few commissions I get now and then, but I just want to create art forever.
To learn more about my personal story, sign up for my patreon and email subscription. Read below to find out more.
Become a patron
While I love commissions and just creating for fun, that does not pay the bills. My friends and family know how best to support me by becoming a patron of my art. On Patreon, I post exclusive sketches and ideas and polls asking for the audience to help pick the art they are most interested in seeing created. If you’re in any of the tiers $5 and above, you also get merch every three months for the first year; stickers, prints, t-shirts, mugs, totes, all sorts of stuff! You can cancel any time, but if you stay signed up, I’ll keep in touch with you about free art in the future. You’ll also soon see a new podcast from me, where I’m just rambling about whatever topics my audience chooses, and I think it will be fun! Please subscribe!
“Weird and nerdy”
I have a hard time describing my art style because I don’t want to stick to just one thing, I like to be flexible and I want people to know that I’ll create anything and everything for them. BUT other people have describe my art as “weird and nerdy” and I love that. It’s pretty accurate. I’ve painted a lot of batman paintings, I draw comics, I make drag queens out of pop culture villains like Skeletor and Darth Maul, I love drawing little Hobbit homes. But again, I’ll make anything, I’ve painted sharks, landscapes, snails, horses, dragons, pets, people, everything!
In One Week
This print was inspired by a song by Hozier called In One Week. I love the soft lilting music and the feeling I get, like I’d be fine if I drifted off to sleep forever and became a part of nature.
Stage IV
This print is a part of a series that’s not finished yet about the 5 stages of grief. This was the easiest and most familiar stage for me to represent: depression. I’ve been in an ongoing cycle of grief since my youngest stepdaughter is being kept from us. I haven’t seen her since Thanksgiving of 2021. I’ve also known death since I was 8, when my favorite person in the whole world passed away from lung cancer, my grandma Marilyn. I know many different kinds of grief, but I only know one type of healing, my creative process.
Snow Queen
This print was started while I was backstage working our Metro Mini-Nutcracker dance show. This show is always so magical because the kids work really hard and the teachers are amazing at what they do. It’s wonderful to be a part of and I wanted to recreate my own magic from the show by presenting my favorite character.
The heart stands for self love and protecting myself from the pain and negativity from the outside world
I designed this when I was 12 years old, when I first learned of depression on the internet, and got it tattooed on my wrist years later, forever reminding me of my mission to love myself always in spite of my mental health struggles.
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