The Artist

I’ve always been a lover of art. Both my parents were artistic in their own ways and growing up they always supported my love of art as I experimented with new mediums and techniques.

I can also thank my friend from across the sea Han for helping to re-inspire me the last couple of years to get back into my passion of creating art ❤

I have always felt that the world needed more art, at least the world I was living in. I look to cultures overseas like those in Asia who have people that literally live in cities that have beautiful architecture, wear clothing with amazing embroidery, and grow up in stunning surroundings filled with artistic elements. Here in America, while I understand that “modern” and “minimalist” are popular styles, much remains to be desired about our surroundings. Bleak walls and empty spaces can only do so much for ones creative soul.

When we surround ourselves with beautiful things, no matter what a beautiful thing means to you, we live more fulfilling, happier lives. So to me, I create art in the hopes that someone can see something from my work that inspires them and then take that piece of art and put it in their life so it can be a little more beautiful. We all deserve to have inspiring things around us to support us.

When I was in college, I actually used to look at digital art as something not like art. To me, at the time, I felt that it took less skill to create art on a computer screen and therefore meant you weren't a real artist.

After I graduated and went to work for a small local business doing marketing, I oversaw our graphic design interns. And watching them create graphics and designs for us inspired me to try it out for myself. As you can imagine, it did not go so well at the beginning! But I kept on learning and practicing both professionally and personally for the next decade to hone my skills.

Today, as a digital illustrator, I would definitely say that this type of art is on par with other, more traditional forms of artwork. Digital illustration is simply a different medium, like oil paints or watercolors, for artists to share their vision.

I grew up in a small town just outside Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and lived there until I was in my mid 20s. In 2017 I moved down to Biloxi, Mississippi to be close to family which is where I currently reside. I am so grateful to have been able to experience art in both the North and the South of the country. Each has shown me different perspectives of the cultures and people who create art in their respective regions and inspired me numerous times to try new things with my own art.

One of the most fun artistic ventures I have been apart of was the Blue Moon Art contest that is held each year at the Peter Adnerson Festival. Although I didn’t win, it was enjoyable to create a piece of artwork for such a large festival showing.

I have won numerous art contests in my high school years both for the school I attended as well as for the 4-H program I was apart of after school.

Most recently I won first place in the Mullest Fest 23 art contest and I was lucky enough to be a member of the Top Ten for the 2023 Peterson Anderson Festival.