With so many new collectors and friends on social media, I thought it was a great time to not only introduce myself to new faces, but also share some things very few people know about me. Let’s have some fun!
Hidden Passion
This one might not be a huge secret since I post about it online from time to time, but I discovered pottery a few years ago and absolutely fell in love with it. Art is a huge part of my every day, but it felt so freeing to use my hands to shape clay for no other reason but to play. Four thousand misshapen mugs and cracked bowls later, I’m making slightly less misshapen mugs and, I’m happy to announce, bowls without cracks.
Early Career Struggles
Every artist struggles at every stage of their career, but one that I’m sure we all feel is a need for more S P A C E. When I first started making art regularly, I was working a full-time job and living in a one-bedroom apartment with my cat. My “studio” went from my kitchen table, to my living room, and then, finally, I brought my bedroom into my living room and turned my bedroom into a studio. It was nice having a dedicated space, but it was a little disruptive to my life. Do not recommend.
Biggest Inspiration
Impossible to pick one, so I won’t. Emily Carr, Georgia O’Keefe, and the Group of Seven are all up there, but I have a soft spot the Impressionist Claude Monet. I had the absolute joy of visiting Musee de l'Orangerie in France to see his Water Lilies. I’m not exaggerating when I say it brought me to tears.
Favourite Movie
Again, impossible to pick one but right now, at this moment, I’ll offer Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as my pick. I’m talking the OG, Gene Wilder one.
Rituals Before I Paint
I don’t have any specific rituals beyond small things like lighting candles or putting on a playlist. In fact, the only consistent thing that I do is try not to not lose my mind when I’m about to release a collection. The nerves never go away people!
Memorable Career Milestones
I’ve been blessed enough to have reached a lot of memorable milestones, but one early one was seeing my art larger than life. As part of the YEGCanvas project in 2016, the Edmonton Arts Council selected a few pieces of my work to put on billboards around my city. It was surreal to see my work at that size and even more unbelievable to hear from my friends when they drove past it on their way to work. It was one of those moments that gives you the validation that’s so crucial when you’re a young artist.
Bucket List Goals
I have many goals, but two immediately popped into my mind. One you might expect, the other not. First, I’d love to visit a pink beach like Tangsi Beach in Indonesia. A pink beach! How could I not? Another bucket list goal is to do stand-up comedy. I’m almost hesitant to put that out into the world, but I’ve wanted to do this for years and while I’ve made no moves to make it happen just yet, it’s always floating around in my head. Who knows? Maybe I’ll make a late career pivot into comedy 🤣
Guilty Pleasures
Reality TV! I’m no better than anyone else and these stupid shows make great background noise while I work. Love Is Blind, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Big Brother, whichever one is getting buzz that week will probably be the soundtrack to my admin work.
Favourite Childhood Memory
If you follow me on social media for any length of time, you’ll know I love White Point in Cape Breton. I used to spend my summers there as a child and one of my favourite memories was picking baskets of Nova Scotia’s famous blueberries for my grandma so she could bake me a warm blueberry pie. That’s a core memory I’ll never forget.
Charitable Work
Community is not only important to me, it was my whole career before transitioning into being a full-time artist. I spent years in Community Development and Marketing with both private and non-profit organizations and it’s a part of my identity I bring to my art practice too. Thankfully, I know the causes I support have also been important to all of you too as you always show up to support them in big ways and we’ve raised nearly $25,000 together for Big Brothers Big Sisters, Indspire, Bent Arrow Society, Bissell Centre, WIN House, Africa Centre, The Stollery, and Zoe's Animal Rescue.
That was fun! I hope you got a kick out of some of this. It’s nice to share some real bits of my life with all of you. Sometimes, social media makes it easy to forget we’re all real people and not just the profile pics we stand behind so I’d love to hear you answer one of these questions in the comments too!
