I have been an artist my entire life, and creating is the only way I have found where I can express myself and my emotions. Art is a universal language where one doesn't have to understand any set of words, and meaning is up to the interpretation of the viewer. As an artist, there is something freeing about the fact that you never have to worry about a language barrier.
     With a background in painting, I prefer acrylics as I enjoy their bold color quality and the ability to represent anything in a realistic manor. My portfolio began filled with one still life after another. The pieces were calculated, sketched and executed to perfection. Then everything changed when I discovered a new love: silk painting. The process was so different than the familiar canvas and paint, yet somehow it felt incredibly natural. Silk spoke to me with the softness and almost airy quality of a cloud that it possesses. Those qualities became the direction for my art. I had never been able to feel as though I could paint a dream or memory until that point. It gave my images a softer beauty that I wasn’t able to pull out of my work before. Learning the skill of silk painting helped me to evoke more emotion out of my works, no matter the medium. 
     Currently I’d like to return to working with acrylics, and to achieve the aforementioned qualities of silk. The idea of capturing a memory came to me after working with silk painting, and it is something I want to impose on my canvas. There is a common thread we can all relate to with memories, and that's how I feel my work can best reach the viewer. Within every piece I strive to create a fleeting world of beauty. My work always has a sense of beauty because that's how I view life, and it's the most important thing that I want to communicate in every piece. Whether the subject matter is full of happiness or sorrow, I want aesthetic beauty present as a reminder that memories are to be cherished. They are the stories that create your life. It brings to mind a quote from one of my favorite television shows, The Wonder Years, "Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." Memories reside in a variety of places within each of us. It may be a flower, a photograph or even a color pallet that triggers something for any individual. I want my work speak to that space of memory, and if that connection can pull at your heart or stir your soul, then I feel I've created a successful work of art.