Growing up, I had quite a few careers in mind - a poet, a detective, a historian, an archaeologist, a costume designer, a florist. Instead, I left my hometown of Peoria, Illinois to study art education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I graduated with a BFA in Art Education, with a minor in Art History and an endorsement in Social Studies. I have been teaching in Central Illinois schools since 2016.
I have always been inspired by mythology, folklore, fairy tales, and the natural world. My work often investigates connections between storytelling and faith - how the stories we tell reflect and reveal what we believe about the world.
When I’m not teaching or creating, I can be found gardening or reading or mediating an argument between my husband and our cat, Freya.
“But now I saw the bright shadow coming out of the book into the real world and resting there, transforming all common things and yet itself unchanged. ”
Exhibitions
2023 | Those Who Can, Teach | Link Gallery, Urbana, IL
2020 | Juried Collaborative Collection | Emerging Artists Collective + Bluffs Literary Magazine
2019 | Piece of Mind | Peoria Public Library; Peoria, IL
2019 | This is Me | Exhibit A Gallery, Peoria Heights, IL
2018 | Unseen Voices | Foster Gallery; Peoria, IL
2016 | BFA Exhibition | UIUC College of Art + Design; Champaign, IL
2016 | This Fair and Fecund Place | Figure One; Champaign IL
2014 | This is Our Day Job | UIUC Painting II; Urbana, IL