Since enrolling in the art program at Skagit Valley College I have grown as an artist and found my passion is creating art that expresses my love of wildlife in its natural habitat. The Estuary where the river meets the Sea is an important part of my life as an artist, a member of a commercial fishing family, and a human with a loving connection to the earth. In this beautiful place where the tides lift rivers in the fall to assist the salmon along their way to the spawning grounds, where seabirds and raptors alike call and dine on exquisite delicacies of their ecosystem. This magical place is where all life is enticed to come and share the bounty. We rational thinkers who visit and share this space have the ability to save or spoil these crucial ecosystems. I hope to create awareness of the need for a healthy environment here which is crucial in maintaining the wonder of nature. As I explore my environment, looking under rocks near the sea and through the leaves into the sky, finding inspiration either with my camera or gathering found objects to incorporate into my art. I hope to share the beauty found here and in doing so create an awareness that will assist in the preservation of these amazing spaces.

When it comes to inspiration I have found a lot from other PNW based portrait photographers and a lot of editorial/fashion photographers who shoot for major magazines such as Vogue. Andrew Kearns, Forrest Mankins and Patrick Demarchelier are some of my favorite photographers, these photographers like to emphasis the beauty in both the subject and the subjects surrounding. When taking a picture your focus is not on one specific thing, you’re focused on creating a beautiful image, this means making sure not only the subject but the setting looks good. You’re capturing a moment.

For the future, I will continue to keep shooting and working on growing my photography business. I hope to work with people wanting portraits but also companies that I am passionate about and enjoy their products. I have shot for a few of my favorite outdoor clothing brands and hope to grow my client list. I think trying new things in my work can only lead to more opportunities and reaching new people to create with.

So far I have tried a lot of  different art mediums such as ceramics, design, drawing, painting, digital design, and recently photography. I have narrowed down my focus to photography, painting, and drawing. I would like to learn more about each one, so I will be able to see ​all of​ ​the possibilities that come with each medium and bring me closer to what kind of art I want to pursue. All in all I just have such a passion for art and I love to express myself through creative projects. It gives me an outlet to share my ideas, emotions, and my perspective on the world. That is why I am currently in the process of getting my Associates in Visual Arts degree from Skagit Valley College. I feel like getting an art degree will be a great accomplishment,  a good first step into the artist world, and push me forwards the next step of my journey.

Since I was a child, art has been one of my passions. I decided to pursue it as my career. The path that drew my attention the most was the make-believe worlds of science fiction and fantasy. The landscapes, the different worlds that were not like ordinary life, the colors and the graphics grabbed my attention. Video games such as Destiny, Halo, Elder Scrolls, Skyrim, and Star Wars helped me to discover the types of genres I wanted to be involved in. I want to be a concept artist for a video game company! I want to work for Bungie, a video game company based in Bellevue, WA.

I work with a lot of different mediums, such as charcoals, colored pencils, digital and film photography, programs like Ibis to create digital drawings, and paper and clay sculptures. One of my favorite things, regardless of materials is trying to incorporate a dynamic value, a sense of space and color to help create a sense of perspective and dept to enhance the world of fantasy and science fiction.

Seeing and hearing are big inspirations to a lot of things I do. With seeing, I can look at different things and be inspired visually. With seeing, I can hear a sound and think of how that sounds look like and how it makes me feel to come up with something. These things inspire the short movies I make.