Painting has always been my calling. No matter what path I took to make a living—whether it was graphic design or other creative fields—I was always drawn back to the canvas or wood. I started painting in San Francisco after taking my only art class. After moving to the East Coast, I began painting in a subbasement in Weehawken, New Jersey, after work, and over time, it became more than just a creative outlet—it became a lifeline. I painted through tough times, career changes, a painful divorce, and the heartbreak of a failed IVF journey. In my darkest moments, painting was the one constant that helped me process, get through, and start over.
Nine years ago, I returned to Monterey for a fresh start. I reinvented myself by building and managing a food truck, while continuing to create art in the studio in my backyard. That studio is now filled with years of work—paintings and collages that tell my story in layers of color, texture, and emotion.
For a long time, I kept my artwork close. Each piece felt personal, like a part of me. I didn’t want to sell them; they were my visual journal, my inner world made real. But with encouragement and support from my closest friends, I finally agreed to share my work more publicly. I started looking for venues to exhibit my paintings and host openings. I've exhibited my art in Hoboken and New York City, and I've participated in numerous group shows over the past fifteen years.
My art is rooted in transformation, memory, and emotional truth. I believe in the healing power of creative expression, and I hope my work speaks to those parts of us that endure, rebuild, and bloom again.
My Process and
How I Got Here
I am a self-taught artist. My creative journey connects the worlds of fine art, design, and industry. Although I once dreamed of attending art school, my academic path led me to UC Berkeley, where I studied political science, international studies, and economics. My professional career developed in San Francisco, New Jersey, and New York City, where I mastered offset and digital printing, print production, manufacturing, advertising, silk screening, die cutting, and graphic design—skills that later influenced my art practice with texture and layered complexity.
My journey into mixed media art began with the need to clear out the stacks of magazines I had collected over the years—from art and beauty to home improvement and cooking. When the piles became too large, I started tearing them apart and saving fragments in clear plastic containers I called my “fodder bins." Then I began collecting objects from the streets of NYC and my daily life, placing them into the bins until I felt they needed to be part of a painting.
Over time, these bins transformed into a personal archive of colors, textures, and images, serving as the raw material for my layered, multidimensional compositions. T As a painting evolves, sometimes over years, the layers of acrylic paint and collage materials grow, and the surface texture becomes like a topographic map into my mind.
OPEN STUDIO on Sunday, September 7th, 12-4pm.
