On a very rainy day back in ’91 I tagged along with my mother to her thrice annual hair-highlighting appointment at some posh salon in downtown Seattle. At that point I was still getting 10-minute bowl cuts in the ‘burbs. My little sister and I would play with our bag of dolls and giggle around underneath the salon chair, as the hairstylist would explain to my mom her latest plan of action. The smell of hairspray and perfume permeated the air as I tried to pretend bottle-feed Cabbage Patch dolls-–and my sister. Coloring books and blank paper spilled out onto the floor as my sister looked around for more toys. I grabbed the paper and a red (or Cadmium Medium Red as I would refer to it now) coloring pencil and just started drawing. A nose. Some eyes (two, to be exact). Heart-shaped lips. And the hair—with a few highlights inspired from being in the salon that day. That’s all I needed to make my day—a piece of paper and a pencil. I don’t think I ever touched coloring books when I was young. No, I was always a blank white slate kid.

Fast-forward to third grade and I was that girl that was always doodling on her notepaper as the math teacher was going over multiplication tables. And of course it was always the smart boy up front that was saving the girl’s butt as he unknowingly distracted the teacher from calling on her with his impressive multiplication recital. I did learn something in math, however, and ended up at Duke University 10 years later on a Track/XC scholarship.  As an Art major, one of my professors let me substitute a 5-page Russian Art history assignment for a thematic art piece on the same topic…what a deal.

After I graduated college and entered the real world art became my center focus. I never had any lessons. Growing up, I gained a vivid imagination which was fostered from long boring hours in the classroom and commercial fishing in no-mans-land Alaska with my family. I’ve also traveled to many countries—45 so far—which has expanded my understanding of history, people and culture. I  made sense of my life and the world through my art:  something between reality and escape, fantasy, mystery and fun–I live for these things.