Bio

My love of art started at a young age; I have always loved drawing, painting, and creating characters and stories since before I could walk. My art career really started In fifth grade. Ms. Kate, my art teacher recommended me for Girls' Opportunities Through Art and Leadership (GOAL), this program helps 5th-9th grade girls use visual arts as a framework to address skills in relationships, personal identity, goal setting, problem solving, and independent thinking, but you can only get into the program by teacher recommendation. When I started doing GOAL through the Durango Arts Center, I became even more interested in the process of creating art and discovering my own style. GOAL introduced me to new and different art mediums and styles, it opened up new possibilities for me as an artist. It not only made me more confident in my art but in myself. GOAL was so important to me personally and as an artist that I decided to intern with the program once I was too old to participate. I really wanted to share my passion for art with other girls. I love teaching students and watching them discover their own talents and passions. Soon, my mom and I discovered Rocky Mountain Animation Labs. After taking my first class, I was hooked. My art was no longer just an image on a piece of paper but a living thing. The characters that I loved drawing and their stories could now be brought to life. Animation allowed me to break the rules that constrained me in other types of art. In animation, inanimate objects come to life. I couldn’t believe how I could get lost in a project only to realize how many hours had passed. Most students who took animation classes only came for one or two sessions finding it tedious and thinking that it was more fun to watch animation than to make it, but I loved it. It is hard work and incredibly frustrating at times but deeply rewarding when you see your work come to life. Unfortunately, the school ended up closing after a few years. There just wasn’t enough demand to keep it open. I was fortunate enough to continue my animation studies for a short time privately with the director of the animation school, David Tart until he moved to work on a new project. David was always incredibly encouraging and was an inspiration to me. He has worked on some of my favorite movies such as Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, and many more! Having found my passion for animation, I decided to increase my knowledge and skills; not just in animating but in all aspects of the animation process. Character design, storyboarding, and world-building are particularly interesting to me. That’s when I found the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Animation Summer Intensive program. Honestly, I was scared about going away for part of the summer. I thought I would be lonely - having experienced a lot of bullying in school - but it was completely different than I expected. I found others who shared my passion for art and animation and made lifelong connections with the people there. My love of animation was reinforced and I truly felt like I had found my people and my place in the world. That's why I decided to go to The University of North Carolina School of the Arts for college. I applied to most of the top animation schools in America including Ringling, RISD, RMCAD, and a few others, and ended up getting in. But UNCSA has a special place in my heart. I Directed, produced, and lead animation on a third-year film that I wrote myself called, “It’s about you.” The film is about a woman who is continuously discouraged from pursuing art and eventually, she becomes an accountant. But, after many years she decides that it is time to start doing art again. She creates a painting that comes to life and takes her to another world full of color instead of the black and white of her day-to-day life. Art and animation are not merely professions; they are my purpose, my calling. Through this medium, I want to touch hearts, spark imagination, and create stories that resonate with the human experience.