Bio

1979 - 1996 I grew up in Central and Eastern Oregon.  My parents were both busy educators, so I had a lot of free time to myself, which I mostly spent drawing, daydreaming, and exploring.  At school, I was the kind of kid who preferred to use recesses to doodle rather than participate in games out on the playground.  Our family always lived just slightly above the poverty line, but since my parents both had summers off work, we were able to do a lot of hiking and camping together.  This instilled in me a deep love for nature.

1996 - 2000 My senior year of high school I took classes (concurrent credit) at Central Oregon Community College.  This is where I had my first real art classes (I was homeschooled my previous three years of high school).  I took three terms of Drawing from an instructor who took a very classical approach to teaching, and I fell in love with making art.  After graduating, I attended a university in Idaho.  (This university shall remain unnamed, as it later applied for exemption from Title IX rules, in order to use religion to discriminate against students of protected statuses.)  There I majored in Art and Art Education.  The art department was extremely lacking, yet I had wonderful professors who shaped me in profound ways.  The summer after my freshman year, I taught English at a school in the suburbs of Chengdu, China.  This was my first time traveling out of the country, and it completely altered my perceptions of the world and led to a lifelong love for exploring other countries and cultures.  The next summer I worked as an assistant in an art gallery in Bend, Oregon, which gave me some experience in the business side of art.  The summer before my senior year, I studied art in Italy at the University of Georgia’s Cortona, Italy campus.  This was my first time seeing in-person many of the artworks I had studied as a student.  I absorbed everything like a sponge.  Before returning home, I traveled to Paris on my own, and spent a week exploring one museum after another – it was a life changing experience.  I returned to Idaho to finish my student teaching in an art classroom at a local high school.  I graduated with honors that winter with BAs in both Art and Art Education.

2001 - 2003 Up until this point, I had only lived in small towns in Oregon and Idaho.  A friend of mine offered to share an apartment with me in Chicago, so I jumped at the chance to live in a big city.  This is where I met my life-partner and fellow artist, Tith Sin.  I moved to the city in the middle of winter, with no money, and eventually found work as a substitute teacher.  I subbed all over the city, and worked odd jobs in the summer, until I was hired as a teacher at Arts of Living (a maternity school for teen mothers).  The temporary funding for that position was not available the following year, so I was then hired as an art teacher at Steinmetz High School.  After that position was also eliminated the following year, I began considering other options.

2003 - 2005 A close friend of mine, Robin Rios, had just graduated with a degree in graphic design.  We decided to work together to create a space for emerging artists in Chicago.  Together we opened 4Art Inc., a gallery and frame shop that also offered design services and art classes.  Neither of us knew anything about running a business, but we were able to secure a small business loan, and opened up our storefront in the “Chicago Arts District” in the Pilsen neighborhood.  We curated and hosted many exciting exhibitions and events, but after two years of not being able to take home a paycheck (I was surviving off of income from substitute teaching on the side), I had to say goodbye to the business and return to teaching.  (After leaving, Robin turned the gallery into a cooperative that became a Chicago institution for the following 16 years.)

2005 - 2007 Through working at the gallery, I learned a lot about graphic design, and became fluent in the use of Adobe Creative Suite.  I was hired at Chicago Discovery Academy (Bowen High School) to teach digital art classes.  I taught there for two years until the Pacific Northwest called me back home.  I had enjoyed my time in Chicago, but I needed to be closer to mountains and forests. 

2007 - 2013 My partner and I moved to Portland, and I was hired at Lincoln High School to create a Graphic Arts program.  I taught there for the next 13 years, and had many students who went on to major in art and design.  I honed my skills in digital media, but had little time and energy left over for my own art practice.  In 2011 we purchased our home, which is still where we both have our studios, and where we both fell in love with gardening.

2013 - 2014 This school year, I arranged to take a half-time leave of absence.  I used this time to take printmaking classes at Portland State University and Pacific Northwest College of Art.  This rekindled a passion for printmaking and bookmaking, and set the groundwork for much of my current art practice.

2014 - 2020 I returned to full-time teaching at Lincoln.  My hope was to continue the momentum I had created the previous year, and I became a member of Bite Studio in Portland.  After a few months it became apparent that there was not enough time and energy left over after teaching, and I had to give up my membership at the print studio.  Along with my partner, I tried filling that void by making functional pieces (wooden planter boxes) that we sold at local markets, but ultimately I longed to create more artwork.  Each year I tried to create a better balance between work and art, but finished art pieces were few and far between.  In the fall of 2019 my partner and I took a life-changing trip to his birth country, Cambodia.  Experiencing the culture, arts, and people there was extremely moving and influential for both of us, personally and artistically.  We worked together to create a book about the experience.

2020 - now In the beginning of 2020 I applied for a full-time (unpaid) leave of absence from teaching, in order for me to revisit my priorities and explore options outside of teaching.  A month later the COVID pandemic began and I spent my last semester teaching online classes.  We had saved up for my year away from work, and we ended up stretching those funds to support us for two years.  After much thought, I decided not to return to full-time teaching.  My partner, Tith Sin, began working in ceramics, and I spent my days in my home studio, exploring the depths of my own creativity, focusing mostly on printmaking and bookmaking.  After our savings ran out, we both worked odd jobs to pay the bills, and began showing our work at different art/craft markets around Portland.  I am currently working as a substitute teacher for Portland Public Schools, which allows me enough time and energy to continue my art practice.  Right now I am exploring ways to share my work online through my YouTube channel.