“My medium of choice is oil painting on canvas. I’m classically trained in realism. I think I’ve steered away from that now that I’m out of school and I’ve kind of gotten my own voice and broken the rules. I’m a little bit more of a figure abstract artist; I love the figure. The figure is my subject, but I feel like I’m kind of pushing the boundaries and abstracting that more than I was classically trained to do.
I started Young At Art five years ago when I first moved to Goshen. I had my daughter, who was 2, and at the time I was doing art with her. I knew Goshen was an art community – that’s why we moved here. I thought there might be somebody else out there who wanted to do art with their little kids. I started Young at Art, and it took off. The community has been more than supportive. It’s more than I could have ever imagined, to be that supportive.
Pre-COVID, I was up to around seven classes. I plan to get back there and more. I teach kids ages 2 to 13. I’m looking at classes for teenagers, currently. There’s a need in the community for that.
I think my greatest accomplishment technically, with my own art, was my pencil drawing that is a self-portrait of me holding a cast of my head. It’s really kind of a piece that makes you think. It’s interpretive and it’s really well done and it’s big. Other than that, it’s really building Young At Art and having that be my art piece, my project, my labor of love.
We were living in Elkhart. We knew we wanted to move, and I knew I wanted to move to Goshen. This was before I was even part of the community or even knew anyone specifically. I just knew Goshen as an art city – a city that appreciated that and it was everywhere and there was an abundance, and there were artists who lived here and they were in communication and helping. Just a vibrant community. So when we were moving, I was like, ‘Well, we’re moving to Goshen!’ It was mostly the school systems and also the art that was provided here and the studios and the people. It’s kind of bizarre – I’ve never loved a city like I love Goshen. And it’s the people, it’s the businesses, it’s the uniqueness. It’s amazing.”
