I was born in a rural town, where my family has lived for several generation. Being in an area with little distraction and a focus upon family and friends has instilled in me the knowledge of how important family can be.

I come from a diverse group of people with many stories and points of view. This is reflected in my work. I use layers of imagery to convey the multiple views within my message that I am presenting to the viewer. Storytellers have always fascinated me, not only the ones in my family, but also ones from popular culture. Some of these would include my favorite musicians like The Decemberists, Josh Ritter, and Aimee Mann; and artists like Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Ray Johnson, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol. I use acquired media to create my work. Old pages from magazines, books, and advertisements make up the bulk of the media. I will find these item at garage sales, bookstalls, flea markets, antique stores, or just scavenging through the trash. The desire to find this type of media comes from my childhood where I would often go to these places with my grandmothers looking for a good deal. They would also tell me the importance of taking care of old things. That has always stuck with me

My grandfathers have been heavy influences on my work. My grandfather, on my mother’s side, and I would spend most of our time talking about our coin/currency collection. We would clean them, go to shows to buy them, and organize our collection by year and condition. Doing this meditative act day after day with him never got old. He loved history, and he loved telling me stories about the years that were on these coins and currencies. Seeing the portraits printed in the black ink on the surface of the old withered paper was such a sight to a kid with an overactive imagination and a grandfather fueling the fire. It was like while holding these objects I could see the stories as if I was a part of them. Now I have to say that though he was one of the greatest influences in my life, I had many, but I feel that many of the ideas of how my work is conceived is based on these early experiences. My grandfather on my father’s side is a builder, the kind of man that can make something from nothing. I can remember being over at their place almost everyday after school. After a quick snack with our grandmother, my cousins and I would go out and watch our grandfather tinkering in his shop building in the backyard. He would give us a handful of nails and a few old hammers; point to the pile of scrap wood and say “go to work.” This is very much like I work today, I acquire my media and “go to work.” I always looked up to this man. Watching and learning while he worked on whatever project, with the same diligence and details that a kid would imagine the gods took while constructing the world. It was this that helped form my drive for getting the details just right in my work.

When I am making my work I like it to have a crisp look. All placement is deliberate and planed. This gives the base of my work a strong sense of control. I will start the work by focusing on color, line, shape and texture. This is achieved by taking the pages and advertisements from old magazines and creating a type of grid for my first layer of imagery. Composition is very important, but I also try to include symbols in my work. The use of 3’s and 5’s have to do with a number of themes. Three’s roots stem from the meaning of multiplicity. Three is a moving forward of energy, overcoming duality, expression, manifestation and synthesis. Three is the first number to which the meaning "all" was given. It is The Triad, being the number of the whole as it contains the beginning, a middle and an end. Five’s symbolize meditation; religion; versatility. It represents the five senses (taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing.) We find meanings to five in the five petal flowers, five pointed leaves--especially the rose. I also focus on the use of color in my work. I enjoy the use of discontinued toxic colors. These colors bring to my work an antiqued appearance to them, and a sense of importance. I also use the color red with my work. Studies show that red can have a physical effect, increasing the rate of respiration and raising blood pressure. I choose this color because of the many meanings it has. Red can be good or bad and it is this duality that I love about the color. Another element of my work is the use of female portraits. These “beautiful” women are often the focus in my work. I find that often as a child my grandmothers would tell me stories from children’s books about the beautiful princess finding her prince, or the woman that the love of her life pays no attention to her until someone comes along and makes her beautiful. My works comments on this. I assign these often sad messages that have no redemption in my work. Not all of life is a happy ending, and beauty does not equal happiness. The found media that I use is ever taken into consideration. I will spend time looking for text within an article, or photo that has a particular mood to it that pertains to the message in the piece. These messages include unrequited love, eating disorders, the loss of a child, etc.