this is me

Jesus follower, winter lover, soul seer, tattoo getter. Writer, dreamer, wanderer, reader, feeler, thinker. Sneaker head wannabe, sharp dresser can-be, hoodie rocker year-round would-be-if-I-could-be.Picture framer, wall painter, emotion expresser, word collector. Rough hands, soft heart, strong-willed, passion-filled. But most importantly, in the end, I’m a daughter and a friend.

 

I live to make things. It is a love that runs so deep within me I am convinced even my bones would suffer in its absence. I started young. Drawing, painting, clay, mixed media collage, building. I was no child prodigy, but if there was something to be made from it, whatever “it” was, I was making something out of it. However, it wasn’t until college when I began to take art classes as a graphic design major that my creativity really came to life. I was truly thriving.

 

People always told me things would be different when I got out into the “real world.” Either I just didn’t want to believe them, or perhaps I was just trying to believe the best, but whatever the case may be, they were right. I only spent 3 years as a graphic designer before leaving the field. In the summer of 2015, I quit my job, packed my clothes, and moved to Nashville, Tennessee. I’d like to tell you that I came to chase down a dream of being an artist, that I had a solid plan, and that everything went according to it. But that just isn’t how things work most of the time, and I have been no exception to that rule. Nashville has been the hardest and greatest adventure of my life. I have been broke, lonely, scared, frustrated, helpless, and hopeless. But oh my, how I have been cared for, encouraged, taught, pushed, helped, comforted, and loved. And if I had to go back, I’d do it all over again.

 

Today, I live way out in the hills of Woodbury, Tennessee, where I have a cute little country house and a wood shop. I can honestly say it is a dream come true. I am a drawer box builder by trade, artist by heart. I have been able to find solace in a job that allows me to be in the woodworking trade and to work with my hands, not to mention endless wood scraps. But my dream of being a full-time artist still burns deep within me. All in due time. Everything you see here on my site is completely original and one of a kind, from the framed wooden canvases to the marks, patterns, wood scraps, colors, papers, burns, and anything else I can find within my reach to put upon them. I hope you enjoy my work; it is truly a labor of pure and absolute love.