Southern Paint Pot Studio

I studied and graduated from Oakland University in Michigan, with a bachelor's degree in Art History. There I learned that whatever the artist is exposed to can influence their art: religion, politics, romance, friends, family, surrounding nature, etc... This was enforced even more so when I had an internship at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. I worked at the Archives for American Art where I researched artists' personal diaries and journals. Reading what they experienced and perceived from the world around them was illuminating to me. You don't need to have great loss or great wins to incite creativity. It can be as simple as single flower or a warm breeze across your face. Or sometimes it's just the need to create something that brings out the best in us. After college, I worked in inventory at a prominent gallery in Michigan and then I curated a local Art & Antiquities gallery. I loved helping people acquire unique pieces for their personal collections and bring these exclusive and rare items to decorate their homes. Now I get to create these unique pieces for people's collections and brighten up their homes.
My art comes from the need to just create. I have always been a creative person, but it was always was for my own personal gratification. I always considered it to be a great weekend if I had either: bread dough from kneading the dough, dirt from gardening, clay from throwing pottery, or paint under my fingernails at the end of the of the day.
My paintings are inspired from nature: my garden, by backyard, and the lake.