I initially went to RISD thinking I would get my degree in Painting as I have painted all my life. However after foundation year I found my love for tactile 3D art,and I chose Jewelry & Metalsmithing instead. I now create art that combines my painting, design, and metalsmithing talents. I started creating this body of work back in 2016, and recently began to sell it! When creating my work, the initial conception comes through my love of International historical folk art, tile motifs, modern art, graphic design, and nature. There is a brief session when I will roughly sketch my ideas, however I like to put the bulk of my creative energy directly into the piece itself. I build each ‘panel’ myself starting with a found or bought piece of pine wood. Most of my smaller works are on solid pine which I often cut to size from larger pine lumber. The larger pieces on store bought glued or pressed plywood. When ‘building’ the panels, I carefully lay out pre-made store bought wood tiles to create the tiled look making sure to leave imperfections in spacing and unique arrangements for a more authentic worn aesthetic. The next step is to glue down all the tiles. Once the tiles are glued and set, I start with a series of acrylic paint layers. The first layer is a transparent wash of white acrylic to brighten and ‘bleach’ the tiles and exposed wood panel underneath. (I think of it as the ‘gesso’ layer) I then carefully and lightly pencil draw the image and broad pattern work on the piece and paint over the pencil lines with opaque white acrylic paint. Next I do a wash with acrylic paint over the entire piece as an under color. The white lines from the previous layer end up resisting the color wash (similar to batique) and I am left with beautiful white lines on a transparent colored background. This is the basic foundation of each composition. From there I will start to meticulously layer opaque colors with acrylic paint, various sheet metal, metal leaf, assortment of metal hardware, and flashing tape using screws, furniture tacks, and other various nails to create the final composition. I work within these materials using brass, aluminum, copper, gold, and silver. I find joy in creating paintings that are also objects that have an antique or found object quality to them. I create compositions with subjects that are usually living, etheric, soft, and delicate and instead give them unbreakable worn armored looks. Common subjects of flowers, fish, birds, stars, trees, and landscapes.