When I was asked in first grade what I wanted to be when I grew up, I quickly replied, “I want to be an artist!” If I were asked where I wanted to live, I would have said Maine.

Luckily, my mom was willing to support my plan. I started art classes when I was 6 and never stopped. Holiday presents included drawing pads, pastels, and a wooden painting box filled with Grumbacher oils and brushes. My summers were spent on a lake in Belgrade Lakes, Maine.

After a brief diversion studying Environmental Science, I returned to studying art and was encouraged by an art professor to go to New York to a “real art school”. I landed at the School of Visual Arts and left with a BFA in Graphic Design.

I’ve worked in advertising, cartography, and museum exhibits. My main focus has been on User Experience Design and strategy for web and mobile applications across a variety of industries. User research and validation is a core tenant of the products I’ve designed. You can learn more about the products and industries I’ve worked on at my linkedin profile.

In mobile design, you spend time thinking about landscape and portrait formats. That got me thinking about getting back into landscape and portrait painting. I returned to pastel and pencils and getting my hands dirty… really dirty. I prefer to work plein air and am fortunate to live by a tidal marsh in southern Maine that inspires me everyday. My process is focused on study and simplification, which is also my focus for UX design.

So here I am, just as I said — an artist living in Maine.