About the Artist
what it is:
Greetings! I’m a mixed media artist, art educator, and self-proclaimed weirdo with a fascination for unsettling and uncanny creatures and bodies. I make art that pokes and prods at hidden worlds, both real and imaginary. Experimentation, exploration, mistake-making, and growth are integral parts of my process, both in my studio and classroom.
My chaotic studio habits are constantly changing as I tend to immerse myself in different media in bursts before moving on to the next thing. My art features watercolor or acrylic paints combined with mixed media collage, ink, colored pencil, printmaking, textiles and fibers, and whatever else catches my interest in the moment. I work with a variety of contrasting textures gathered from found objects, monoprints, fabric scraps, and recycled paper to create layered backgrounds that push and pull at the balance of the composition, resulting in a gritty yet endearing beauty that often flirts with the macabre. I can often be found digging through the trash and hoarding interesting bits of cardboard, springs and gears from broken electronics, and product packaging that appeals to me.
Watercolor on vellum, paint pen, mixed media ephemera
Executive Dysfunction Suite, 2025
12”x12” shadowbox made of reclaimed barn wood, found objects, watercolor, acrylic, and mixed media ephemera for Outside the Box: Reimagined (Placer Artists Tour).
WHERE IT STARTED:
I was born and raised in the VERY small town of Ashby, Nebraska. I spent my childhood barefoot and running wild in the vast, living tapestry of the Sandhills. My summers were ruled by mud kitchens, the sweet taste of honeysuckle, fort building, scraped knees, and exploring the immense openness of those grassy dunes.
Downtown Ashby, Nebraska
Zooming out from Ashby, Nebraska. Wide open spaces for days!
The Nebraska Sandhills are the largest stabilized sand dune formation in the Western Hemisphere and cover about a quarter of the state. Underneath, the Ogallala Aquifer provides the best water on earth and supports diverse wetlands. The area is home to numerous wildlife species and is one of the most intact prairie ecosystems in the country.
My parents owned the only grocery store in town. Here they are in the butcher shop getting ready to do something terrifying to a side of beef.
Me and my big sis chilling in our backyard. Shoes are for cowards.
I earned a BA in Professional Art from Doane University in Crete, NE, and an MA in Art History from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln. Along with my husband, daughter, and two dogs, I have since lived in Guam, Washington D.C., Florida, Texas, and California (twice!). My lived experience as an outsider in these locations and a deeply ingrained need to flip over rocks, peek into hidey holes, find the best climbing trees, contributes to my curiosity while making art that offers an eye-level view of hidden worlds in a way that feels at once intimate and surreal.
When I was a baby, my mom set me down on a blanket in the grass while she put laundry up on the clothesline. She suddenly heard me laughing exuberantly and found me rolling around in the grass with a huge, battle worn, unknown stray tom cat. Tommy remained an indoor/outdoor cat, coming and going as he pleased, and showing up at odd hours with fresh scrapes and torn up ears. While at home, he allowed my sister and I to dress him in baby clothes and push him around in a stroller.
Experiencing sand with my daughter.
Why LOOK at an exhibit when you can BE the exhibit?