When I was nineteen years of age, my application to art school was rejected. Since then, I’ve found that career paths are hardly ever as straight as an arrow, especially creative ones. Here’s my story:
I earned my B.F.A in Graphic Design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. I’ve worked in design studios in Japan, San Francisco, and New York City, where I took on editorial illustration assignments for the New York Times, Business week, New York Magazine, and other publications while working as a corporate art director by day. I especially enjoyed my role as Art Director for Skittles and Snickers online. Concurrently, I spent my evenings and weekends creating a visual chronicle of my experiences in the U.S. and abroad.
Eventually, I launched my own business with a client list including Nickelodeon, Encyclopedia Britannica, Time Warner, The American Museum of Natural History, and educational publishers such as Macmillan McGraw-Hill.  My forte was botanical and nature illustration for clients such as New York Botanical Garden and Brooklyn Botanic Garden.Â
While negotiating a career as an illustrator and graphic designer, I worked as a teaching artist in New York City public schools, libraries, and the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice, teaching residents at juvenile detention sites in the Bronx and Brooklyn.Â
Teaching Artist
After completing my training as a teaching artist at the Community Word Project in New York City, I developed arts programming for New York City Department of Education visual arts residencies at public schools in underserved areas of New York City. I also taught workshops to residents of juvenile detention sites in New York City for the Department of Juvenile Justice. Additionally, I taught extensively at Brooklyn Public Library branches.
Polymer Clay Creations
Shortly after I relocated from New York City to Minnesota, I met some artists from tne Polymer Clay Guild of Minnesota at Art-a-Whirl, the second biggest annual art fair in the nation. Shortly after that, I began working seriously in three dimensional art for the very first time. Creating with polymer clay enhanced my relationahip with form and color. I also found that working with clay provided relief from doing my 2D work, and vice versa. It was a match made in heaven.
New Work
Where will my journey in art take me? I started out creating analog art using pencils, charcoal, pen and ink, and pastels. From there, I became fascinated with crafting digital images. Recently I started experimenting with media that is totally new to me. Wherever the journey takes me, I remain open to combining the media I have already mastered, whether it’s sewing, sculpting, drawing, or painting. I’m eagerly anticipating what will be revealed next.
