Interview by Emily Hessney Lynch.

Published November 8, 2018.

Where are you originally from? 

I’m from Rochester. I lived in Greece for 10 years and graduated high school in Livonia. I did both my undergrad and my graduate work at Geneseo. I studied special education and elementary education and am certified in math.

What is your favorite part of living in Rochester?

The changing seasons. I have two kids, a six year old and a four year old, so there are a lot of fun activities we can all do together. I like to go to the canal with them and feed the ducks. We love all the fall festivals. We’re always at the Strong Museum, and we love going apple picking or visiting the pumpkin farm. In the summertime, we like to spend lots of time outside, like going to the pool at Midtown.

What are some of your favorite/secret Rochester spots? 

The fish hatchery in Powder Mills Park is a great one. We’re also at Yo Lickety in Webster a lot.

What are some of your favorite local nonprofits to support? 

Lollypop Farm, or basically anything with animals. I donate my art to various causes pretty often. I’ve donated to GiGi’s Playhouse, which is for kids with Down Syndrome—it’s a great place and you can host birthday parties there. I’ve also donated art in support of various breast cancer-related causes.

MJTStages is another good one—they put on kids’ plays. Everything Stages does is really good! They do productions with 1st-12th graders.

If you had $100 and two hours to kill in Rochester, how would you spend the money/time? 

I’d just go to Rochester Art Supply and spend it all. That place is amazing.

What is your personal coping mechanism for cold/gray weather? 

I paint—I like the excuse to stay inside. Sometimes we all bundle up and go play in the snow. I’m not a cold weather hater. You just turn on the fireplace and hang out with family.

What is your favorite Rochester memory? 

Enjoying the ring of fire on Conesus Lake every summer. We stuck with that tradition for a long time.

What makes Rochester unique? 

Several things—the small-town feel, the fall weather, and the fact that it’s not that far to drive basically anywhere.

What do you think could be improved? 

Fix the potholes!

If Rochester was an animal, what would it be? 

A chameleon—it’s always changing. It can be 80 one day and 30 the next, we’re just unpredictable like that.

How long have you been making art? How did you get started? 

I’ve been painting for about three years now. I was always artistic, and would stare at paintings for hours. I never tried it myself, though. We had just moved and the walls were bare, so we tried to make a family painting. My three-year-old made a mess, and I decided to paint over it. That piqued my interest, and from there I started checking out library books and teaching myself acrylics. I started sharing my work on Instagram, and it began to get a lot of likes, shares, and engagement. I sell all my work through there. I learned about resin through social media too. It all started as a hobby, but now I do commissions and have my work in galleries. I truly love it. My art studio is off my kitchen, and I spend all day in there.

Who inspires you? 

Gerhard Richter is amazing. Mitch Gobel, who I found through Instagram. And anything to do with the ocean.

Are there any places you like to go to get inspired?

Jamaica, the beach, any beach. I’ll look at a lot of aerial photos taken by drones, anywhere in the world. I recently started putting real sand from different beaches in my paintings, and that’s been fun to experiment with.

How would you describe the arts community in Rochester?

There’s more than you might initially expect, between First Fridays, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Whitman Works, and so many others. There are a lot of events. You just have to look for it, otherwise you might not know it’s there.

Do you have any advice for up and coming artists in Rochester?

Show your work on Instagram! Put it out there. The members’ exhibit at RoCo is a great option as well. The guy who runs Whitman Works found my work through that, and then I had an exhibit there later on. You also have to be aggressive—send photos of your work to designers, call them up, etc.

Where can people find your work?

You can see my show at the Geisel Gallery in December, downtown in the Bausch & Lomb Building! The opening reception is December 13th from 6:00-8:00pm.