I grew up in the Pacific Northwest but have made Atlanta my home since 1999. At Seattle University, I studied fine art and French but went straight into apparel design out of school and had an apparel company throughout the 90s. In 1999, I moved to Atlanta and transitioned to Interior Design. After nearly two decades in design, I finally decided in 2006 to pursue a career as a fine artist. I had always had a desire to paint murals as part of my career, so I became a decorative painter as well, attending the Faux School in Louisville, KY, and the Finishing Source in Atlanta, where I was trained in the art of trompe l'oeil by the premier craftsman of France, Michel Nadai. After that, I added to my education by attending the Dru Blair Air Brush School in North Carolina. The invaluable training in mixed media I gained from these schools has led me to be the artist I am today. Combining my eclectic skill sets to enhance my traditional fine art education has pushed me creatively in directions I would not have considered otherwise and helped me grow as an artist, creating a unique and personal style. Being formally trained as a realist has given me license to play, and my preferred style of representational painting has taken on surreal and abstract notes in the past decade, playing well into the story-like imagery that finds its way out of my head.