I am an alumna of the University of Virginia with a passion for color, design, mixed media and creative expression. 

I remember first learning how to draw when I was about 10 years old, using a fashion tracing kit.  I spent hours tracing and copying and creating my own outfits.  This was how I taught myself to draw. Pablo Picasso said, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” By copying pictures, I gained confidence in my drawing ability and developed my own creative style. Eventually I was drawing purely by observation.   I still feel I can learn a lot just by practicing copying great artistic masters.  To this day, I draw inspiration and borrow themes for my works from my favorite artists.

Perhaps it was learning to draw from a fashion tracing kit that fostered my interest in fashion illustration. If I’m ever in a creative rut, I grab an issue of Vogue and flip through the glossy pages filled with vibrant colors and intricate patterns.  Taking cues from haute couture, fashion illustrations often get me into the creative mood.  It allows me to come up with ideas for my other works, often completely unrelated to fashion.    

I would describe my style as bright and colorful.  Even in my black-and-white prints, I strive to create depth and “color” through the variations in lights and darks. My favorite subject to draw is people because I love the challenges they present.  For instance, how do I best communicate their emotion?  I enjoy studying the colors that make up their skin, eyes, and hair.  For me, skin has never been just peach and shades of brown. There are blue and green undertones, perhaps even some purple. Layers upon layers of complex colors and I strive to capture them all.   

I enjoy all types of media, though I mainly work in acrylics, watercolors, oil pastels, chalk pastels, colored pencils, and markers.