All my life I’ve been told to pick a specialty, choose a theme, and create a “body of work”. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to work within such stifling limitation. There are so many fascinating surfaces and materials to play with; so many different expressions of art… how could I possibly choose just one or two?

As such, I have experience working with everything from ballpoint pen to watercolor pencils, to alcohol markers to scratchboard. I use Photoshop, MidJourney AI, and WinStitch to create cross stitch patterns, prints, stickers, and coloring pages. I draw, I design, and I stitch! The designs in my shop will reflect any and all of these interests (and much, much more).

My roots are in realism, but I have a particular fascination with surrealism and the macabre. If you look closely, you’ll sometimes find influences of manga and graphic novel illustrations. In recent years abstract art has become a creative sandbox of sorts, and is the preferred style for much of my hand-drawn art. I start with a spark of inspiration (maybe the curve of a woman’s lips, or the irregular broken outline of a patch of fur), then just respond to the lines and shapes that emerge on paper. Abstraction allows me to focus entirely on the marks that interest me and wrist movements that feel good, with none of the fear of making mistakes which is often intrinsic with more representational works.

I’d be remiss not to mention rhinestones, which are the highlight -both literally and figuratively- of much of my newer work. I’ve always been mesmerized by all things sparkly, although I’ve only recently begun to incorporate that into my work. Nevertheless, it is quickly becoming a signature feature!