I’ve been painting since I was very young. Quietly, joyfully, and with a full heart. Creating has always been my place of peace, where I reflect, reconnect, and express the stories that live within me. When my youngest child left for college, I found my way back to painting in a deeper way. That season of life invited me to reconnect with my creative voice and rediscover the comfort, joy, and connection that art had always brought into my life. The places I’ve called home continue to shape my work. The colors of Michigan and the beauty of the South Carolina Lowcountry inspire my palettes, drawing me toward brightness, movement, warmth, and light. One of my greatest joys is creating artwork that preserves a meaningful memory. Each commission begins with a story. Some are filled with celebration and joy, while others hold remembrance, gratitude, or healing. I love watching those stories unfold as photographs, emotions, colors, and ideas come together like pieces of a puzzle. My process begins with my own photography, a treasured submitted photograph, a feeling, or a burst of imagination. Through hand sketching, digital painting, and layers of mixed media, I seek to capture and transform meaningful moments from life and imagination into expressions felt through the heart and seen through the eyes. Some of my favorite pieces emerge from the unexpected meeting of memory, photography, and imagination, finding their way into abstract expressions filled with emotion, movement, and discovery. I am endlessly fascinated by the relationship between memory and place, and by the way color can awaken emotions and bring stories back to life. As an author, I carry that same emotional and creative connection into my writing. My debut poetry collection, The Light That Stayed with Me, weaves narrative poetry, original artwork, and a carefully curated musical playlist into a multi-sensory experience centered on love and remembrance. More than anything, my work is an expression of gratitude. Through art, poetry, and music, I hope to honor the people and moments that shape our lives and preserve them in a way that feels honest, hopeful, and deeply human. I believe our memories are not meant to fade. They are meant to live on in color and Light.