I am originally from Virginia, a few miles west of DC. Growing up, drawing was a big part of my identity. From my earliest memories, it was something I always wanted to do. I started pursuing fine art seriously in my early teens and honed my skills by practicing what I learned from books. A few years later though, I stopped. I knew that I’d start again one day, but I didn’t realize that day would come almost 15 years later.

In 2019, art reentered my life in a rather unlikely way. My mother drove down to help out during my hip surgery and brought some things she’d been storing for me. Among those things was an old blank canvas. I decided to try painting to pass the time during recovery and what began as an experiment became my passion.

As I developed my own way of painting, I noticed there weren’t many that had a similar style and I questioned if I was heading down the right path. Around that time, I met an artist who told me, “ Never try to be anyone else.” It was simple, but exactly what I needed to hear.

I create realistic still life and portrait-style paintings with simple, yet highly detailed compositions with a focus on color. Since graphite doesn’t have a color element, painting has opened up an entirely new world to me.

I am not sure what’s in store, but I hope that I can achieve not only my career goals of having a solo exhibition and gallery representation, but also personal fulfillment. Right now, I am participating in an endangered species conservation project. It is something I am proud to be a part of and I would be thrilled if my career path has similar opportunities in the future.