I work in mixed media, which for me means there isn’t one entry point into a piece. Sometimes I start with paint, sometimes with a place or a color, and sometimes I just start making marks and see where they take me. I like moving between materials and letting the piece change as I work.

A lot of my work starts outside and is shaped by being in a particular place. Other pieces happen at my kitchen table with my family around me. I bring my kids along with on my my paintings often, and I think of them as part of my creative life rather than something separate from it. Art happens alongside everything else.

I try not to worry too much about getting things right. I want to stay curious about what I’m making and why I’m making it. I want my work to feel like my own, even as it changes. I hope I can stay an enthusiastic amateur forever; always learning and not becoming too attached to one way of doing things.

I believe that everyone has something to say through creative expression. You don’t have to call yourself an artist to make things, care about art, or have creativity be an important part of your life.

That belief is a big part of why I teach. My workshops are less about making a perfect finished piece and more about giving people a way into their own creative practice. We work with mixed media and try things. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. Both are part of making art.