I was raised in an artistic household. My mother was an art teacher and my father was fond of music. Both of them encouraged me to progress in art.

Starting to become more serious about my art in high school, I became interested in learning figure drawing. I was infatuated with facial expressions and skin tones.

As I moved into my college career I wanted to advance my knowledge in color theory and began to lean into a more Fauvist and impressionist style. To push color boundaries and sway the emotional reactions of viewers, extremely concentrated colors with rough “brush strokes” became a key element within my practice—which brought me to use oil pastels. This medium provided strong color while giving the capability to layer and create texture that is expressionist.

To conclude my final year of my Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art, I finalized and presented works that illustrate themes of PTSD, emotions, and internal battles of a victim of a Sexually Abusive Relationship, which included a lot of play with color. Now as a graduate and an art educator, I continue to use oil pastels in my work along with acrylic paint.