The quote “A jack of all trades is a master of none” is misquoted all the time but the actual quote goes as follows: “ A jack of all trades is a master of none but often still, better than a master of one”. It is my favorite quote to describe myself. I have a wide variety of abilities that I can do and a wide variety of influences and I won't apologize for it, and if you are an artist, you shouldn't either. I am a proud jack of all trades so my work ranges drastically. I inherited my artistic talent from my grandfather on my mother’s side - who was a commercial artist and had his own studio. My mother was also a commercial artist before she became a teacher.

 Most people have a very normal introduction to art where they are handed crayons and blank paper and are allowed to just scribble to their heart's content. I was handed a torch, glass, and mandrills and was taught how to make glass beads at the age of 5 - completely supervised of course on the lap of a glass blower by the name of Mr. Ron. By the time I was 7, I was on the torch alone creating my own beads after being taught the techniques and safety by Mr. Ron and Mrs. Angie. From age 7 to 13 I traveled with the glass beading group called ‘The Fireflies’. We demoed and sold our work at festivals and events. We even went to Fort Polk to demo for military kids for a whole weekend teaching them about beading. My shining moment as a kid was when I would demo glass beading for my class at school every year. From glass bead making to stained glass, mosaics, clay sculpting and bead making, quilling, jewelry making, wire work, knitting, enameling, wood burning, woodworking, candle making, fiber crafts, paper making, copper soldering, mix media sculptures, resin work, pewter and silver casting, and then by 13 I had done my first blacksmithing piece. In high school, I developed a love for photography and focused on that from 14-19. 

I took my first official art class in College. I had never technically taken an art class before.  All of the drawing and painting I had done until that point was self-taught and years of practice. I will never forget my professor trying to convince me every day to switch my major to something in art - at the time I was an agriculture education major. When I transferred schools to finish my bachelor's I ended up changing my major to professional writing which encompassed graphic design, document design, and business writing. Luckily for me, I was able to join my passion for communication with art and design with that major. At the University of Louisiana at Lafayette I focused on learning as much as I could on graphic design, typography,  principles of design, effective communication, and strategic planning. I have been an Art Educator since I graduated and have been honing my skills even further with research and communication through my profession.