As an artist, I find inspiration in nature along with the organisms that reside in its beauty. My recent work has been mostly focused on natural history involving botanicals, mammals, birds etc. To start my process, I enjoy taking trips to conservatories and zoos to collect my references using my camera, or my sketchbook and draw the subjects from observation. I find that being physically present with the subject matter helps me to better understand the life form and its habitat. In my drawings and paintings, I strive to emphasize color and detail with minimal backgrounds. I work mainly with colored pencils and occasionally watercolor, oil paint and graphite pencils. Primarily, I like to focus on the subject itself more than the background to appreciate it in its simplest form.