Mixed Media Portfolio
My artistic practice explores the relationship between the natural world, symbolism, and emotional experience. Through painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, and other media, I investigate themes of intuition, observation, spirituality, and the meanings we assign to familiar forms. Recurring animal imagery serves as a vehicle for exploring these ideas, often combining representational detail with expressive mark-making and symbolic elements. My work seeks to create space for contemplation and interpretation, inviting viewers to consider the relationship between what is observed and what is felt. As both an artist and educator, I value experimentation, technical development, and the process of discovering meaning through making.
"Just Beyond"
Acrylic on Canvas
60" x 48"
A layered acrylic painting exploring movement, symbolic light, and the tension between power and calm. The expressive brushwork and halo element highlight contrast, energy, and presence. This piece demonstrates large-scale composition, color depth, and symbolic storytelling through form.
"Keeper of the Light"
Acrylic on Canvas
An expressive acrylic painting of a barn owl, highlighted with a subtle halo to emphasize symbolism, presence, and stillness. The piece explores layered texture, soft gradients, and the contrast between detailed rendering and loose, gestural marks. This work demonstrates observation skills, color blending, and symbolic representation in painting.
"Eternal Observer"
Acrylic on Canvas
30x40"
Acrylic painting of a kestrel, focusing on layered color, expressive brushwork, and symbolic light. Although oil painting was my concentration during my Bachelor’s degree, I apply similar techniques of glazing, blending, and texture to my acrylic work. This piece reflects my interest in capturing presence and emotion through color and form.
"Call of the Night"
Sgraffito on Stoneware, underglaze
This piece explores the instinctual relationship between animals and the natural world. The wolf, positioned against the moon, represents both isolation and belonging — a creature guided by instinct yet connected to something larger than itself. Using the sgraffito process, I carved through dark surface layers to reveal light beneath, mirroring the idea of inner voice emerging through stillness and night.
Pyography Pieces
These pyrography pieces demonstrate my ability to work with precision and detail using heat-based tools. Whether I’m rendering architecture or animal portraits, pyrography allows me to focus on line quality, tonal contrast, and careful observational drawing. I enjoy incorporating non-traditional materials into my studio practice and modeling craftsmanship, patience, and technique for students.
"Hidden Gaze"
Graphite
A graphite portrait focused on expressive eyes, layered textiles, and intricate pattern work. This piece demonstrates value control, texture, and attention to detail—skills I regularly teach students as part of observational drawing and shading foundations.
Chickadee
Lino Print
A hand-carved linocut print of a chickadee, focusing on bold contrast, simplified shapes, and expressive mark-making. This piece explores positive and negative space, carving techniques, and the printmaking process. I often use linocut as a way to introduce students to relief printing, texture, and design thinking.
"The Forest Within"
Pen & Ink
A stippled raven silhouette revealing a forest scene within its form. This piece explores value, contrast, and double-exposure imagery through controlled dotwork. I later adapted the technique into a student project that focused on stippling, layered imagery, and composition.
Backlit Figure
Charcoal
18 x 22"
A charcoal study focusing on anatomy, light, and form. This piece explores value transitions, contrast, and the subtleties of the human figure. It demonstrates my approach to teaching observational drawing—building structure through gesture, refining proportion, and using charcoal to create depth and atmosphere.
"Night Watcher"
Glaze on stoneware,
illuminated ceramic sculpture
This piece explores the quiet presence of nocturnal animals and their association with reflection and observation. The owl serves as a symbol of awareness and calm attention. By incorporating light within the ceramic form, the work shifts from a static object to a functional source of atmosphere, emphasizing how art can shape environment and mood. I am interested in creating ceramic pieces that exist both as sculpture and as part of daily living spaces.
Thrown Ceramics
Glaze Exploration Series
Stoneware
A collection of wheel-thrown vessels exploring variation in form, surface chemistry, and glaze interaction during high-temperature firing. Each piece reflects an experimental approach to texture, color saturation, and reduction effect
"Embrace"
Bronze Sculpture (Lost-Wax Casting)
A bronze sculpture created through the traditional lost-wax casting process. This piece explores gesture, connection, and the expressive qualities of the human form. The organic textures and elongated shapes reflect the fluidity of the wax modeling stage, while the final bronze cast emphasizes permanence and weight. Including this work allows me to share foundational 3D processes with students, from armature building to mold-making and finishing.
