I initially enrolled at East Carolina University to study jewelry design in the fall of 1999. The methods and tools of historical techniques of art making inspired me. To be able to make innovations in the art world, I wanted a firm grasp on the conventions of past masters. The fluid designs of early Celtic art influenced my work, as well as the work of art nouveau artists such as Alphonse Mucha.

I later transferred to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, where I began my concentration in painting and computer graphics. I studied watercolors in Germany and oil painting under Tarleton Blackwell. Under some very skilled instructors, my use of color became more generous, and I developed the loose, fluid style that characterizes my painting.

In the spring of 2002 I enrolled in an international program, which allowed me to spend 6 months studying in Europe. I studied at the Pädagogishe Hochschule Ludwigsburg in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. I learned among other things, about the German language as well as watercolor techniques and materials. I painted over 60 watercolors in Europe as I traveled around the German countryside as well as in Spain, France, England, and Ireland.

I want to use contemporary tools, such as computers and recent advances in paint making, to create a current statement about my experience in this culture.

There is no central theme or message that I consciously add to my work, especially since a lot of my current work is for commercial applications. The one thing I would like for my viewers to take from my art is a sense of harmony. Beauty and harmony are the one thing as an artist I feel that I can contribute to this often chaotic daily life.