I was born and raised in Southern California, but I spent summers in Japan with my grandparents. Yamaguchi Prefecture is home as is Los Angeles. I love all the artistic pursuits, whether that means creating myself or enjoying others’ creations. However, I am also guilty of seeking order. I love making lists. I always have a paper planner. I'll look up a menu before entering a restaurant just so I'm not caught off guard.
I've lived in New York (let's be honest, it was for 10 months) Berkeley, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, where I grew up and where I am today. Like any other California girl, I'm obsessed with palm trees, desert landscapes and beaches. I guess this is why New York didn't work out?
I have spent much of my life straddling the line between the world of theater/acting and writing/art. In the last year I’ve realized my heart is in art and writing. I received my BA in English from UC Berkeley and my MA in English Literature + Film from Claremont Graduate University.
Like many of us, I started creating as a kid. School projects, mother’s day cards, popsicle art! Then in third grade I enrolled in an after-school art club where I had my first taste of art beyond classroom tutorials. Our first assignment was, in fact, abstract expressionism— at 8 years old! From then on I took different classes, kept a sketchbook and journal, stockpiled supplies, and was addicted to attending art galleries and museums.
Today, I work in a variety of mediums— mostly oils, watercolor and collage. But usually I create in whatever way that’s most easily accessible to my current living situation. Right now that includes two very active and curious kids. I’ve never had an art studio. I clean my brushes in the kitchen sink. Some supplies I’ve had since I was that 8 year old in art club because art supplies are expensive! All this doesn’t add up to an ideal environment for creating. But what I’ve learned is creativity is often born from restrictions. Work with what you have. Redirect. Don’t let hurdles stop you. Out of all the art classes I’ve taken, the best lesson I learned came from that first art club: There’s no such thing as a mistake in art. This was so liberating! I still might strive for perfection, both on the canvas or in real life, but if I accidentally splatter green paint all over my barren desert landscape, what a beautiful thing it is to realize that this “mistake” is really an opportunity to make something entirely different. All of these little lessons can be applied to everyday life. Maybe that’s why I keep coming back to what I already knew at 8 years old: making art makes me feel like myself.
