I was born on July 9, 1969 in Harrisonburg, Virginia. My family didn't stay long in Virginia. After a series of moves and my parents divorce we ended up in San Antonio, Texas. I spent most of my teen years in San Antonio. However, in 1986 my mother decided to move to Florence, Alabama. I graduated from Bradshaw High School. The transition from city life to the slow pace of Florence wasn't easy. I struggled with this transition until I left. I attended UNA for a year and then joined the Navy. I was stationed in Bremerton, Wa. at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on the USS Truxtun. I was unfortunate enough to have joined during Desert Shield. My first cruise was to join a battle group in the Persian Gulf for the beginning of the war. I spent 4 years in the Navy. I was fortunate enough to be on a ship that got to travel to many ports-of-call. After the military I became a Mental Health counselor/Family Counselor. I worked for the state of Washington as well for the State of Massachusetts. I worked exclusively with the teen population. It was a challenge and brutal on my psyche. I burned out on this type of work after about 4 years. I moved back out to Texas to be around family. It was around this time that I decided to go back to school and pursue an art degree. I looked at several schools in Texas, Washington, and Alabama. I decided on UNA because it was where I had first started college and it just felt like unfinished business. Also, I needed to live somewhere with a slower pace, like Florence. I came back in 1999. I graduated with a BFA in Ceramics in 2004. The slower pace that I once hated is the reason why I have stayed. My art is truly a reflection of my experiences. I include a lot of myself, past and present, in my work. I often utilize architectural and social elements from my travels and my emotions about those places and cultures. It is also very much about my own personal growth and struggle to find myself. This is epitomized in my 'Patchwork Series' of vessels. The textured swatches represent fractures in my memories and emotions from the past. It is also a commentary on how memories and emotions change or fade over time. My pottery can best be described as a post-modern approach to traditional forms. The use of traditional forms is important because it serves as an anchor to the past. It is also easier for people to relate to the form itself. The viewer of my work may not understand why my work looks the way it does. That's okay. Hopefully, with this brief biography, the viewer can begin to interpret the meanings and possibly create their own meaning . If you have any questions about my work please feel free to email me.