MyThoughtsAreDeep

Artist Statement/Bio

Self-portraits have been dominating my artistic work for the better part of the last fifteen years. My preferred medium changes throughout the years, but the subject matter stays the same.

Currently I work mostly with drawing comics of my daily life, illustrating song lyrics that I relate to, or working from “selfies” taken with my phone. I mostly use Sharpie and PITT markers, but experiment with pretty much anything: alcohol inks, block printing, etc.

I grew up on a cattle farm in Southwest Minnesota. My first artistic influences were a large collection of illustrated fairy tale books my mother collected, which eventually turned into an interest in comic books and graphic novels for me. In 2009, I earned a BA in Studio Art and with an emphasis in intaglio printmaking from Hamline University in St. Paul. After college I moved back to the prairie in rural Southwestern Minnesota. Late in 2016 I became the marketing coordinator for Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, a non-profit regional arts council located in Marshall, MN, which serves the 18 counties of Southwest Minnesota. Working in this field has rekindled my artistic desires and inspirations more than anything else since working in the print studio during college, and I am starting to exhibit again. My work often turns back to the bold lines and narrative qualities of illustrated fairy tales and comics.