Featured Piece: “Columbus Night Lights” This piece is on display in Downtown Lancaster at: O’Huid’s Gaelic Pub, 167 W. Main St. — **Featured Piece: “Columbus Night Lights”**
This piece is on display in Downtown Lancaster at:
*O’Huid’s Gaelic Pub, 167 W. Main St.*

I grew up right here in Lancaster, Ohio. After 12 years of hopping around a few states, I have recently relocated back here to my hometown. My childhood is full of memories with family and friends, playing sports, staying busy, traveling and creating some type of artwork. Art has always came naturally as a way of expressing myself. When my homework covered in doodles and my “up-cycled” t-shirts were frowned upon, adding my own creative spin everywhere it “wasn’t supposed to be” fueled my creative inspiration.

Looking back now, it seems clear as day that being an artist has always been my passion, but it has taken me years to allow myself the indulgence to chase my creative gift.

While working towards my BSW at Marshall University, I went my own way of exploring painting as my personal outlet through life’s challenges. For fun, I started creating hand painted Game Day t-shirts for myself and friends. They were different and stuck out, and before I knew it I had started a business as an artist customizing wearable game day art. Custom t-shirts turned to custom painted shoes, and the most recent addition to my wearable art collection, Custom Painted Jean Jackets.

I continued my artistic journey in Nashville, Tennessee where I attended graduate school opening an opportunity to continue my social work studies focusing on expressive art therapy. The city itself had a huge influence on my creativity. I found myself surrounded by inspiring artists and musicians, and turning to music for inspiration, particularly in lyrics.

As I craved for a deeper sense of self-development, I accepted a job at Texas A&M. I thrive off my curiosity to confront unforeseen challenges and experience unfamiliar territory outside my comfort zone because it provokes emotions that inspire my creativity.

Naturally I surrounded myself with like-minded people that continued to inspire and challenge my creative abilities. The never-ending horizon began as I chased the desire to fulfill my creative passion. My creative skills expanded as I continued to take risks, try new works and learn from the failures.

Using mostly acrylics and mixed media, my work is an expressive style in a variation of abstract, semi-abstract and realism pieces. My work consists of my wearable art collection, hundreds of commissioned portraits (especially pet portraits), cityscapes and more! I enjoy using my creative voice to express emotion and connect with others. Since making the decision to become a full time artist, I’ve been able to focus on my unique artistic traits and produce my own collections of original work.

One of my favorite things to paint is cityscapes. I absolutely love studying the different architecture and how each building creates one unique silhouette skyline. I enjoy experimenting with different color palettes and tools to create these pieces in a semi abstract style.

As I continue to grow as an artist, my desire to help and connect with others also grows. I’ve started by providing resources and education to the seeking community online, and I only hope to grow this source. I believe art and artist have the power to heal, inspire, provoke emotions and offer a sense of hope while providing beauty to the world. I’m passionate about sharing my experience and hope to be a role model for young artist because like most, I didn’t know how or where to even start to create a career as an artist.