“With watercolor, it’s just the simplicity that I love. And I feel like I can express more with colored pencils than with just ink.
I mostly draw flowers – just what I’m good at – but I will draw other things. I’ve shared a photo of a piece. His name is ‘Ignatius,’ and he was a complete accident. The only thing that was supposed to be on that page was the skull and the antlers, but I accidentally drew a line, and then he became a person.
‘Ignatius’ means a lot to me because he is the best thing I’ve made in a long time.
Since December, I’ve been on and off at the Farmers Market every Saturday. This will be the first Saturday that I’ll miss, but I will take it off to create some more stuff. Things are selling faster than I make them, which is not a great problem to have when you’re in a slump.
Selling what I make helps me grow. It gives me an idea of what people like and helps me explore new things. I have to think, ‘Do I want to sell this?’ and ‘Who would buy it?’ So instead of just drawing what I want to at the time, it pushes me to spread out a little more.
People seem to like the colors in my art. That’s usually what people comment on, the colors. I’ve only ever had one rude person.
Art gives me an outlet. It helps me spread awareness about things I care about. Some of the pieces I’ve done are about the betta fish, and anything I do with a betta fish, all of the proceeds go to a breeder I know who helped me a lot with a rescue of mine. A betta fish.
A pivotal moment for me as an artist was when I was in high school, and I was really into writing. I handwrote a book, front and back, and I was working on typing it up. My stepfather at the time burned it, every single page. That’s around the time art became a big piece of my life.
I’ve always drawn, but that was the deciding factor.
I love creating and seeing how people interpret what is made versus how I felt when it was made. I love hearing how a certain piece makes others feel, as well. Different views and insights open my eyes to others’ views of the world.
I’m from Lake Butler, Florida. This will be my third year in Goshen. So far, this seems like a friendlier place. It seems more welcoming. More than likely, I will stay a while.”
