Exposed to art at a very young age with immense support from my parents growing up, I constantly used art as a means of expression. Throughout school, I received many awards, including the opportunity to design and paint a 500 square foot mural that I worked on with classmates for two years. After high school, I attended Northern Michigan University to pursue art with a focus on painting. Due to my father's failing health, I moved closer to home. While home, I returned to school in a different direction, and Graduated with an associate's degree in Veterinary Technology. While in school, art was a study tool and notebooks were filled with scientific sketches and drawings. While working as a full time Licensed Veterinary Technician, the emotional toll of secondary trauma caught up with me. This, combined with poor coping skills, led to alcoholism. The ability to draw, paint and dream was gone. Life was on hold. Broken and hopeless, I was taken in by a wonderful recovery community. With tremendous support and patience at home, work, and a new-found recovery family, hope and dreams were once again a possibility. In 2022, I was offered the opportunity to dabble in medical illustration, illustrating the canine eye for a Diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmology. This project was the spark that rekindled my passion for art. Free of the substance that was draining my life, since January 2018, I see the colors of light more vividly than ever before. This new-found gratitude comes through in my work as I express myself mainly through painting and illustration. A creative of many talents, I am always experimenting with different media. Animals and nature are favorite subjects, especially capturing the nuances in personalities of companion animals. My work intends to bring out the simple joys in my subjects as a constant reminder to celebrate the beauty around us, no matter how small.
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