Hello! I am an artist and craftsman who loves creating quality work by hand. I was raised in Bozeman, Montana, where the mountains made me feel at home and am now living in Portland, Oregon, where the Willamette river brings me grounding and joy. I use they / them pronouns.

In my free time, I love reading, working on personal sewing projects, diving headlong into new crafts, and spending time outside (especially near the Willamette River).

My interest in fine arts stems from my mother who is an art teacher and who provided me with materials and instructions for any project I wanted to take on as a child. My father, an avid photographer who grew up with a darkroom in his basement, gave me my first crude digital camera at 9 years old spurring my love for the medium. I am most drawn to photography but also dabble in digital drawing, sculpture, bookmaking, sketching, and watercolor. I have found that my most impactful art projects have revolved around trying to understand something I cannot fully grasp, emotionally or otherwise. Much of my work follows environmental Eco Art themes and approaches because I am fascinated by how art can help us understand the complex nuances of our world, and the complex problems I am most drawn to are environmental. During my BA in Environmental Studies with a focus in Studio Art at Lewis & Clark College, I explored facets of the environmental and artistic worlds, each of which helped me understand the other better. I created my undergrad thesis work around these themes and situated the work at Ross Island in the Willamette River which runs through Portland.

I continue to dabble in various art forms, especially when given the opportunity to present those I love with handmade gifts! However, most of my focus these days is in sewing, mending and repair.

Incidentally matching my photography as I print it

Growing up, I also was always interested in clothing, especially during halloween season and at other opportunities for dressing up. My mother helped me sew aspects of my costumes from a young age and encouraged me as I became more interested in sewing. Working in Lewis and Clark College’s outdoor program warehouse, I took on the role of assessing what gear needed to be retired from use and what could be repaired. I found a great love in repairing gear as it melded my interests in sewing, sustainability, and creative problem solving. Through this work, I became interested in how materials change over time and how to repair specific outdoor fibers and materials. I have been very excited to find work with Mountain Soles and Outdoor Threads, a small business in Portland which provides high-quality outdoor gear repair. I am loving learning the ins- and outs- of fixing outdoor apparel, sleeping bags, tents, and backpacks.

I am also working with the nonprofit Repair PDX to offer classes in mending, teach volunteers, and offer my skills for free at our monthly repair cafes. This incredible community of repair-minded folks hosts a monthly repair cafe event where folks can get a wide variety of items repaired for free! These are on the 2nd Saturday of every month from 12-3pm at Leaven Community Center (5431 NE 20th, Portland).

My sewing adventures have also brought me into leather working. I started working with leather I found in a scrap bin at SCRAP PDX creating jewelry and accessories from images online. I then had the wonderful opportunity to learn at two leather “Atelier” workshops in France. The first workshop was rooted in “maroquinerie,” the fine art of bag and accessory-making represented by large fashion design houses. In the other workshop, I learned “sellerie,” a more robust form of leather working rooted in saddle building and equine accessories. The time spent in the workshops and working on my projects outside of class was a dream. I loved learning about the material and types of tanning, pattern-making, construction, finishing, and care of leather.

If you are interesting in learning more about or engaging with my work, I would love to hear from you!