WHAT DRIVES ME

Welcome to my website! I am fortunate to have been raised by a family of makers and creative people, learning woodworking from my dad, painting from my grandmother, crochet and sewing from my aunts, and even inheriting my mom’s joy of reading and writing. I enjoy learning new design software including CAD, vector and raster illustration and editing software, animation, layout, and 3D modeling. I have formal software training and am driven to teach myself, as well, so that I can work as efficiently at as high a standard as possible.

In my professional practice, these skills have given me the advantage of being able to take on a variety of tasks, properly understand the needs of the person or group for whom I am designing, and research best practices and trends in order to produce effective work. I primarily use Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, InDesign, and SketchUp to complete designs. I have experience with several website builders and a bit of coding. I have honed my digital, print, UI/UX, and motion design skills through my career as a designer. My knowledge and experience of built objects in the real world give me an advantage in designing in three-dimensional space and illustrating in two-dimensional space.

In 2015, three years after beginning work as a graphic designer, I returned to school to complete a BFA, working full-time and going to school full-time. I completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art Metals with a minor in Graphic Design in 2020. My college years opened up my excitement for materials and gave me a license to explore how the properties of materials might be uniquely transformed and showcased in a contemporary fashion while using both traditional and innovative techniques. I am now taking a continuing education course in blacksmithing, working in steel and large works.

In my personal practice, I ardently pursue visual language to articulate Story. I believe that visual art can and should be utilized to move nations and inspire individuals to lead productive, insightful, and utterly fulfilled lives. The process of making art ought to involve internalizing that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. These are eternal things. The end result of making and showing art is an opportunity to impart eternal things to those who experience the art that is shared.

Finally, I am excited to have established Redeeming Art Ministry at FBC of El Paso, begun in June 2021, where art and design techniques are made accessible to a larger population. That endeavor was highly successful in El Paso, continuing to this day under new leadership, and I look forward to establishing a similar program where I now live in the DFW area. In the future, I would like to provide a space for professional and practicing artists to make meaningful contributions to their communities using their talents and skills. I also plan to write programming for amateur artists — teaching them to be creative with the work of their hands, to work out information in a tangible medium, and to actively observe the things in their immediate and global environments.