Working scholar and working artist, I'm a painter at heart but have grown to expand my artistic capabilities. Since the age of four I had been encouraged and actually had been taught how to paint by my father. As I was excelling in finding my own personal style, it seemed natural that when I finally got to college that I should pursue a degree within that field. I took both studio and lecture courses but found myself lost and confused in the politics of what and who an artist is. I also found myself at odds with everything that had seemed natural and nurturing to my being. I dropped art as my academic major. Yet I’ve continued painting throughout all this time, working as an artist in addition to my academic career rather than as part of a degree program. To me, art in all its variations encompasses everything in life. And it is my motto that art is necessary for the soul. I never paint by numbers, nor do I stay within the lines.