I earned my Bachelors of Arts degree from Southern Virginia University, where I double-majored in English and Art and minored in Creative Writing. My dual focus of study, and resulting schedule of attending English courses alongside Fine Art courses, afforded me a unique opportunity to understand the concept of composition from various angles in a variety of disciplines. While researching the master of plot and narrative continuum, Charles Dickens, for my English Senior Paper, I was studying the concepts of line and composition in my advanced drawing and painting classes. While completing my abstract expressionist body of work for my Art Senior Show, I was studying the work of William Faulkner and his unique ability to translate abstracted and nuanced observations of the physical and mental environment of the American South into concrete images, symbols and character development. Through this academic plan of study, I gained a rich understanding of composition, expression, artistic and literary theory, intertextuality and -- most importantly -- the ways in which an artist plans his or her work with specific intention to illicit specific responses within their audience. I am grateful to consider myself classically trained in both language arts and fine arts.

Though I am a communicator and graphic designer in my profession, I am simultaneously a fine artist at my core. I approach my personal and professional projects through the lens of a classically-trained artist, and am constantly seeking that dexterity in expression and control that all artists endeavor to learn.