“Painting has given structure to my life. Imagining, planning, and executing complete a piece of art helps me understand my time in the world.”

“As a child I explored a lot outdoors, but I also read a lot. Both types of exploration have impacted the way I experience the natural world.”

“Museums are awesome spaces, or awe-full places. Walking up to objects that have witnessed history and are just itching to tell you their stories is an amazing experience.”

“When I work on new designs I’m often inspired by memories, nature, and dreams.”

“My early years of watching Saturday-morning cartoons and reading comic books and encyclopedias are a big influence on my work.”

“I’ve always been intrigued with the three-dimensional form. To me, the negative space that envelops a piece is as important as the piece itself, and that is the way I approach my work.”

“The art world needs authentic portraits of all backrounds and cultures. Art gave me the courage to share my culture and journey.”

“I have always enjoyed carefully observing and drawing from nature. I have found that small things are often the most interesting subjects.”

“I think everyone is talented and everyone is an artist. When you see a barista making a matcha latte, they have to have a sense that they're creating something beautiful, or else they wouldn't be able to function. They may not describe it that way, but it's my job, as an artist, to see the soul of things.”

“While music still remains an important part of my artistic life, painting has unlocked a tremendous amount of creative potential that continues to shape my experience as a human in the world.”

“Most of my work develops by letting my hands form something from the clay, and if I like how it looks, I embellish on it. If I don’t like it, I smush it down (technical term!) and start over.”

“Clay is just mud, so the stakes for experimenting with shapes and my reasons for making those shapes are low, really low. Until it’s fired, you get infinite do-overs. That lets me play.”

“I work on both figurative pieces and abstracted landscapes because they inform one another. When I hit a wall with one subject, I can go to the other and find an insight, a fluid methodology.”

“When I think I've actually painted something that creates the illusion of nature, I am humbled by the ‘real thing’.”

“I have always felt very blessed behind the camera. The people I work with seem to open themselves up to me. It's very touching and I never take it for granted.”

“I paint simply for the love of the craft and out of a desire to master it.”

“I love that my position at the museum gives me a “day job” that allows me to use so many of my skills to create and share art, solve historical mysteries like Sherlock Holmes, search for treasures like Indiana Jones, and sometimes curate order out of chaos. It’s a dream job.”

“I consider myself a serious student of art who likes to paint really nutty stuff.”