I remember someone asking me when I was a kid, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I thought for a moment and said, “An artist and a scientist!” Even as a kid I think I knew that making your way in the world as an artist was not for the faint of heart, and little did I know that neither was being a scientist!

I am constantly inspired by the natural world and seek to recreate its beauty in much of my art. My day job has me outside in the coastal plains forest of North Carolina so I get to see things that many don’t. My phone is filled with images collected in the field! My spare time is where I get to utilize my creative energy that gets stirred up by the beautiful things I get to see in the woods.

As someone who has an insatiable curiosity about how the world works and intense desire to know how to do just about everything, the quote “ A jack of all trades is a master of none…” haunted me for a long time. It seemed to point its judgy finger at me while I changed careers and couldn’t make up my mind about what direction I should go because I wanted to choose them all. Then it was revealed that there was a second part of the quote that had been left out. “...but oftentimes better than a master of one.” It immediately made me reflect on all the instances where my varied background and abilities had enriched my life, often allowing my creativity and artistic skill to be useful in my day job or school life. It was in many of these moments of intersection where I was in fact an artist AND a scientist. 

When I tell someone I am an artist, they naturally ask “What type of art?” and I never know quite how to answer this since I enjoy many mediums and there are always new ones to learn! Currently clay sculpture and diorama, watercolor animals, and biological illustration type drawing (pen and ink or graphite), are my most practiced mediums….currently anyway!