My work is a personal reflection of the complexity of life. When my brush hits the board, my overactive brain softens into peace, where I am able to lay out and examine those hard moments and organize them into something a bit more beautiful. I prefer to work in a mixed media style. The layers required to create a cohesive mixed media piece are symbolic of the complexity of daily life. Things are rarely how they appear at first glance, whether in the real world or in my paintings. The more time you spend truly looking, the more you find to be intrigued by and to love. The details captured within a mixed media piece each tell a part of the story—they help guide your eye to what is the most important aspect of the painting and shield little secrets that the avid viewer will be able to pick out and glean more information about the subject matter. To me, it feels a little like a puzzle that I get to eagerly put together and wait for people to view and to solve on their own. I use a variety of techniques to create each piece, some are experimental and others calculated and precise. Being a mixed media artist makes me an avid collector of interesting textures, trinkets, and trash that I can incorporate in a variety of ways. My artwork is a lesson on conservation, often using materials that other artists would discard. I would much rather find a beautiful way to use something than throw it in the garbage.