At the age of six, I sat on the floor across from my parents couch,
completely captivated by its pattern of peonies, roses, and wildflowers.
I was awed by the fact that someone could recreate those flowers so
beautifully and realistically, especially when I had spent the first
years of my life trying to create such drawings and so far didn’t even
come close to the masterpiece in front of me. I felt the temptation to
give up. “I’ll never be that good,” I thought. Why even try? But after
admiring the detail in the petals and the fact that the artist chose to
combine my favorite flowers together in one painting, the next moment I
felt the courage to try anyway. Thus began my first ‘serious’ art
creation—a ‘master copy’ of that very couch cover that took me almost
two years to complete, finally finishing at age eight.
In many
ways I
still feel like the same little girl. The beauty of God’s creation
continually captivates and inspires me, and just like that little girl, I
often face discouragement, frustration and the temptation to quit. I
passionately love art, but I passionately love my Savior Jesus Christ
more and it’s by his grace that I am able to paint at all—he is the one
who gives me the courage to continue growing as an artist.
I graduated with my Bachelor of Science degree in visual arts with a concentration in commercial art and in 2008 I graduated with my Master of Fine Arts degree focusing on illustration. My artistic influences include John William Waterhouse, Trina Schart Hyman, Daniel Gerhartz, and Jan Brett. My dream is to write and illustrate my own series of children’s books one day.
My blog: http://thedreamersimagination.blogspot.com