The beginning

Hi! I'm very happy that you found my site. This is my first step in sharing my photos with the world. To begin I guess I will tell you a little about myself. I am an artist. I have always LOVED magazines and will probably always have a wall in my house dedicated to stacks and stacks of them.

I am a recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati as a fine arts major from the DAAP program. Throughout college I focused my energies on painting and printmaking. I have a very instinctive way of working that kept me intrigued for hours. My work started out very traditional, as I worked with portraits in oil like the old masters. Then I transitioned into a more abstract, collage-like style. I used lithographs that I created, photocopied them, and ripped them up to use in my work.

The next natural progression for me was to start photocopying magazine images. That led me to a studio completely filled with hundreds and thousands of photocopies. I have copies of everything that I love, from Giselle B, Kate Moss, and Natalia Vodianova to images of lace, fabric, water droplets, and Victorian Flower patterns. These piles of images are my inspiration.

My senior thesis (which was supervised my two very exceptional educators: Wayne Enstice and the late Tarrence Corbin) was a combination of my passions. Painting & magazine images of models. Below is a small section of my painting. The finished piece measured 48" x 60."

After graduation I needed a job, and painting wouldn't be able to sustain me right away. So I called my modeling agency (I've been modeling on and off for about 11 years now. At one point in time I thought that I might make a career out of it, but realized that my personality and heart were just not meant for modeling). To make a long story short I ended up teaching photo and runway classes at the agency.

My photo classes consisted of anywhere from 6-13 students. It was my job to teach them how to pose and work the camera, while shooting the best film that I possibly could for the students comp cards and portfolios. It didn't take long for me to realize that this was my calling.

Photography allows me to have all of the things that I want. I get to work with people, its creative, and I can clearly present my artistic vision\voice. My current goal is to put together an amazing portfolio that represents my "eye" and sense of style. I hope to network with others in this industry to establish a strong and cohesive team. Stylists, makeup artists, designers, agencies, models, other photographers, clients interested in my work, etc., are all people that I hope to meet.

My hope is that through this blog I can share my work with all that are interested. This is meant to give an inside scoop on my work, ideas, and the process that I will be going through in building my business. Feel free to come back and visit, because I will be updating often. Thanks for taking an interest in my work!