When I was little, I declared that I wanted to be a Paleontologist. I think I was maybe four or five and I had spent the first few years of my life being schlepped around Washington state by my dad, who was always on the hunt for fossils. One of my earliest memories is of my father swinging me up a steep hill by the back of my Osh-Kosh-B’Goshes because I was too tired to walk anymore. We were looking for trilobites, but would settle for anything from more recent epochs.

Trilobites are hard to find but we found purpose in the exploration. We would pick our way through coal mining ruins, wondering at the things left behind by people passed on. These trips with my father must have been the beginning of my fascination with mortality and impermanence. I found that, often, the things left behind are beautiful and out of their original context are worthy of consideration. I spend most of my free time now looking for things left behind. Things that are discarded and forgotten by the living world and I try to make those things into something worth considering.

Biography
I live in Groveland, California which abuts the Stanislaus National Forest with my husband, toddler, and dog. Raised by “back-to-the-land” era parents in rural Washington state gave me a strong sense of connection to the world outside of four walls and to all things sustained by earth, water, and sun. I am a formally trained Graphic Artist, though I’m always looking for ways to make art for art’s sake.