Briefly: 

    I am a 22 year old artist living near Santee South Carolina, crazy about cycling, horses and art, determined to have all three in my life! 

Lengthy:

   Born on March 30th 1988 in Bucks County Pennsylvania to a small farm with a few goats, cattle, and I believe chickens, there is little memory I have of that first house besides it being simply and beautifully situated in a bit of woodland.  My most memorable moments were when my Mom pulled me on the Flexible Flyer sled in the snow.  When we moved, I was four years old at the time, I said a special goodbye to a beautiful swing set my Dad had made from huge solid wood beams.

    From there we went and lived in Easton Pennsylvania, a rather eventless two years of my life spent in suburbs.  There were no animals in my life at that time other than a bunny I cared for and a rocking horse my Dad got for me one Christmas.  Home schooling began and that was the time my dreaming of horses began.  In the many days when I would finish my schooling early I would play on my rocking horse and imagine myself in boundless, amazing adventures, colorful events of which only a child could dream.  I often played on my own, since my older brother and I were seven years apart.

    When we moved to Millerstown Pennsylvania, a pleasant home tucked between a ridge and a mountain, that is when my true dreams began.  It was so amazing to be constantly awestruck by the beauty of God's country in that little place of Perry County.  The mountain, barely a mile from our house to the base, was impressive.  Not so much in height, but in untamed appearances, especially during the moments when a storm would grow and the clouds would billow, intimidatingly looming over the mountain's horizon.  It was this land which inspired my early work.  Also, it was my Mom's love for hunting the land which brought me to the very sport, leading me to admire the creatures which challenged us so often.

    I was determined to become a wildlife artist, to capture the impressive beauty which only God's hand can so perfectly create, to try my hand at the mists rolling across the fields, blue with early winter dawn.  My focus at the time, other than schooling, was the farm where we again raised goats and beef cattle.  By that time two new siblings had come.  Gregory, who is eight years younger, and Teresa, who is ten years younger than I am.  At around the age of twelve it was my job to feed the animals as well as milk the dairy goats every morning and evening.  I learned responsibility through caring for animals, keeping them healthy and treating the ill ones. 

    I participated in 4-H and showed my dairy goats at the county fair.  At this county fair I achieved my first competitive experience with art.  I had entered several pieces one year in both the youth and adult classes.  These entries included a watercolor of a bald eagle, a charcoal of a horse running, a clay modeling of a screech owl, and my favorite: a woodburning of a mare and foal running with a background of cumulous clouds!  All these took placings, though a couple were merely fourth place.  I also took requests from a few owners who had their dairy cows there for show and did quick sketch/watercolor portraits for a few dollars a piece.

During the last year of our twelve years in the mountains of PA, I acquired my first horse!  She was a beautiful bay mare, simply named Baby.  I rode her often and loved her to pieces!  I still have an acrylic painting of her in my closet, though I intend to redo it so as to improve since I have recently(in the past two years) discovered the amazing world of oils!  When we moved we returned Baby to her previous owners, but the painting will be my constant reminder of a dream come true for the first time.

    Through all this my parents were extremely supportive of my art.  I had wanted to find classes or a private tutor but it proved difficult and health troubles in the family caused some chaos, which had me assisting more with the farm even though I continued to grab tips and suggestions here and there in order to improve myself as much as possible.  In order to expand my skills I started with sketches of various characters, basing them on stories which friends of mine online would create, and discovered a new area of possibilities: Illustrations.

    Once here near Santee South Carolina I had a job as a waitress at Clark's Inn and Restaurant, beginning to build my financial status.  After saving enough funds and dealing with a little html, graphics, and domain troubles, I managed finally to build and present this simple website to the public.  It became my next step in furthering my career as an artist and commissions began rolling in!  With the added pay I took over farm costs as a form of not only paying rent but mostly to help the family, though it also gave me the opportunity to get into horses again.  I own two beautiful geldings, one tall bay Arab/QH/Thoroughbred named Elgalazar(Zar for short) and one little Arab/Saddlebred bay named Dixon.  They're my pride and joy!

   One thing which helped further my God-given skill was the online artist gathering, DeviantArt, where people provided me with suggestions and a few artists there had caught my attention, having me try different techniques.  I found myself trying several different styles, though my most successful still remained pet and people sketch portraits!  I will take a photo, or even just a description(of a pet), and create portraits which many times have produced a pleasing result.  Illustrations are another strong point in my talent, though as of late I have been concentrating on fine tuning my wildlife art skills.

A few years back I took up the sport of cycling, riding for not only exercise but hoping also to compete here and there.  I, however, on June 14th, 2008, encountered a serious crash while on a training ride, suspending many of my activities for six months.  During those six months I was bound indoors mostly, which led to the discovery that I love to cook!  It was a different form of art but it certainly didn't give me as many headaches as sketching/graphics did those few idle months.  Though my art went on hold, and thus the progress of building my business, I began first with "As One", a pen sketch of my brother and his wife on their wedding day.  I was not pleased with the outcome, and it has taken until this year, 2010, for me to return to my full potential with the success of "Old Daisy", "Curious", and "I've Got My Eye On You"!

Residing in my family's home, I still bake, cook, and clean for a family of five, bicycle frequently, do small jobs of housesitting/dogsitting, and sing as a cantor at church.   All this takes up a lot of time in my day, leaving little for art, but with what I have done so far I am very pleased!

I thank you for taking the time to stop by and glance around!   I look forward to providing the service of my talents to many people such as yourself.