As a young, only child, I amused myself by creating my own fictional worlds, drawing characters, and flying solo through my whimsical imagination. My love of children's novels, comic books, and picture books while growing up blossomed into my present enthrallment with adult graphic novels and illustrations. The inclusion of natural forms and raw materials into my work is rooted in the fact that I have lived in or near rural areas for most of my life. Recently, through my studies in advanced education, I've gleaned additional inspiration from artists populating the Gothic Revival in Britain, Romanticism, and Surrealism. My works explore real and fantastic narratives and memories through scenes and characters that tend more towards representation than abstraction due to my past and present influences. I work with many mediums, including printmaking, ink, watercolor, colored pencil, mixed media, oil paint, and sculpture, in order to create experiences of adventure, mystery, and horror.