I’ve always been a creative person. I’ve always painted, read, and written. But focusing on painting as seriously as I do now, to the point of wanting it to become my professional career, started after my second brain surgery. That was when my brain tumor was finally removed, though it left me with new — and hopefully final — limitations.

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Painting has been my way of healing, of proving to myself that I can still do what I love, and more importantly, it has kept me dreaming at a time when I could have easily lost that ability.

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After a lot of trying and experimenting, I’ve leaned toward using raw cotton canvas — sometimes primed, sometimes not — because it makes me feel more connected to the work. It’s more textured, more honest. I love how layers build the final piece; they add to one another yet always leave a trace, just like everything that shapes us in life.

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My main materials are acrylics, sometimes oils, charcoal, pencil, and oil pastels. I don’t like limiting myself to one medium, though I do have my preferences for how to use them.