Since the age of four, I have considered myself a serious artist. I draw with great accuracy and detail from observation as well as memory, and my eye for color is acute. When looking at something, I see it on a painter's terms, almost subconsciously analyzing its colors and imagining the brushstrokes I would use if painting it. My goal is to be an independent, successful artist, and I know that goal is attainable. In the short time since receiving my Master of Fine Arts degree, my paintings have been included in eight exhibitions across the country. I plan to exhibit more in the future. Meanwhile, I will continue to teach at university art departments until my painting sales provide the independence to become a full-time artist.

Oil paint is my favorite medium. My paintings are realistic and often reflect my immediate surroundings. In an ongoing series of self-portraits, I try to show the beauty of everyday life and ordinary objects. A folded newspaper, a makeup mirror, even an orange extension cord can become beautiful through an artist's eyes. With their cropped compositions and sense of the suspended moment, my paintings show the influence of photography, but I prefer not to use photographs in the actual creation of a painting.