ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
“Make great mistakes” this is the quote that most influences my work and my life. I am an “artist teacher” which simply means I’m an artist who gets the great privilege of teaching art daily to middle school students.
I was born in Columbia, Missouri and currently live in Jefferson City. I have been pursuing art in some form or another for most of my life. I became an art teacher because I wanted to inspire students and help them recognize their own “voice” and learn to trust that voice.
Recently, in my own work, I have been drawn to printmaking because I love the imperfections that make each work unique. In linocut work, the image is drawn onto the block of linoleum and the rest of the area is carved away using tools. The block is inked and the impression of the image transferred onto paper or to other materials. This process allows me to follow the advice I so often give my students to “make great mistakes”; I embrace the happy accidents and delight in the fact that those “mistakes” are the very things that give each work individuality even though they may be a part of a series of work. In art, as in life, it’s the mistakes and acceptance of the imperfections that teach the greatest lessons and allow for growth.
The theme that weaves my work together comes from the way I like to approach life; I seek to find what someone loves or what talent or passion that individual possesses and then encourage them to pursue that pursuit. I seek to inspire the viewer to play, grow and find his or her own joy in life. My upmost goal is to attempt to do my small part to bring a little good into the world.
