About Me
My Husband and I at a show with a Dragon.
I was born and raised in the Bronx in New York. My grandfather Sonny was my closest relative and he raised in me a desire to make my world beautiful and peaceful. Might Fly is his legacy as much as it is mine. I have always sketched and drawn, and if you ran across me growing up there would always be a sketchpad and pencil rattling around my bag.
I left New York when I was 18 and moved out west to Los Angeles, but ended up moving back to New York and working and living there for a few more years. I then moved to Oregon and found that this State was my home. I worked as a tattoo artist in Oregon for several years before moving to Indiana and then to Colorado where I met my husband.
After the crash of 2008, we moved back to Oregon and made a new home for ourselves. I started by seeking work painting pet portraits for a while before we decided to make art my career and took up painting when we opened Might Fly in 2012. Thanks to the amazing support of my community for my work, I have been able to work as an artist full time and I hope to continue to create pieces that are beautiful and peaceful for you.
I left New York when I was 18 and moved out west to Los Angeles, but ended up moving back to New York and working and living there for a few more years. I then moved to Oregon and found that this State was my home. I worked as a tattoo artist in Oregon for several years before moving to Indiana and then to Colorado where I met my husband.
After the crash of 2008, we moved back to Oregon and made a new home for ourselves. I started by seeking work painting pet portraits for a while before we decided to make art my career and took up painting when we opened Might Fly in 2012. Thanks to the amazing support of my community for my work, I have been able to work as an artist full time and I hope to continue to create pieces that are beautiful and peaceful for you.
Kiki getting ready for his morning scream.
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Aside from my love of art, I am a tremendous nerd and you will find my husband and I spending many of our mornings over tea and coffee talking about science fiction, films, and comic books. I read voraciously about science and history and am a fan of ancient wars (my favorite being the Punic Wars talk to me any time about Hannibal Barka, Alexander the Great, or the Black Plague) as well as a great library of science books from neurosciences to astronomy. I enjoy listening to Stephen King or other serial mystery books while I work, and enjoy films like Inception and Arachnophobia to shows like the X-Files (Scully is my favorite) and Game of Thrones, as well as irreverent comedy like Archer or the Venture brothers.
I am an avid gardener and have a little farm in my backyard with my 4 ducks (Mr. Duck, Boop, Shaken, and not Stirred). I also have a precocious husky named Mischief who has earned her name as well as a lout of a companion in Waffles, my golden retriever. I enjoy music and playing banjo (typical Oregon hippie, I know) and guitar and love listening to an eclectic range of music from opera to grunge while I’m working. I currently have some smart bulbs in my studio to control light settings for painting, but the lights have been known to dance with music at times making the studio into an impromptu disco! |
Waffles hanging out by the studio
Growing up in the Bronx means that I was not exposed to the natural beauty you encounter every day when you enjoy the breathtaking beauty of Salem and Oregon’s inherently magical climate. People tend to romanticize what it’s like to live in a city (Oh! It’s so full of life! Yeah, Pigeons, rats and cockroaches) but the truth is the concrete walks, the rundown buildings, and the sky obscured by the light pollution of the city meant that beauty was something that needed to be sought out or planned.
I found welcome relief from the city in the artwork of the classic masters like Bougerou, the whimsical illustrations of Hayou Miyazaki, and in the peaceful imagery of Japanese Wood Block prints and art noveau. Whether it was admiring Rembrandt or Monet at the Metropolitan Art Museum, or enjoying the worlds imaged by Tim Burton or Brian Froud in illustrations and film, I was drawn to beauty, imagination, and technique. I bring all of these considerations to my artwork, whether it is of a happy mouse or a noble raven. I want to see that technique, whimsy, and peace in my compositions. If that sounds like a lot to demand from every painting, you are right, but I won’t let a painting go until I feel like it captures all of those elements. My husband has to confiscate my art books when I have a project so that I will release some of the pieces I work on and, if you went through my studio, you will find hundreds of pieces that are waiting to pass my standards. If an image does not convey what I want, then it waits until I figure out how to make it do what I want it to.
I found welcome relief from the city in the artwork of the classic masters like Bougerou, the whimsical illustrations of Hayou Miyazaki, and in the peaceful imagery of Japanese Wood Block prints and art noveau. Whether it was admiring Rembrandt or Monet at the Metropolitan Art Museum, or enjoying the worlds imaged by Tim Burton or Brian Froud in illustrations and film, I was drawn to beauty, imagination, and technique. I bring all of these considerations to my artwork, whether it is of a happy mouse or a noble raven. I want to see that technique, whimsy, and peace in my compositions. If that sounds like a lot to demand from every painting, you are right, but I won’t let a painting go until I feel like it captures all of those elements. My husband has to confiscate my art books when I have a project so that I will release some of the pieces I work on and, if you went through my studio, you will find hundreds of pieces that are waiting to pass my standards. If an image does not convey what I want, then it waits until I figure out how to make it do what I want it to.
My work space
What is it like the day-to-day life of an artist? I get up and have tea in the morning with my husband and our petulant dogs to talk nerd stuff and business. After a quick round of cleaning, I like to put on an audiobook (I love being read to) and set about organizing my studio space and preparing the pieces I’ve been working on. A good night’s rest always makes what I did yesterday look different and I find I have new ideas for where I’d like my piece to go. There are a whole range of things I may find myself working on for my art (depending on what medium and style I’m working with). I have had a hard time adjusting my schedule to deal with my seizure disorder that can throw a day of work off depending on when it strikes and currently I’m trying to find a way to coexist with my unreliable mind.