Life through an Artist's Eyes.
"A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed." -Ansel Adams
As an Artist.
Just like many artist bio's you may read, my love for the visual arts started very young. From the moment I learned how to walk I was also drawing and painting on any surface I could find. But my love for photography was a slower burn. As a child, my parents had 100s of photo albums. I would look at those albums over and over again. I loved seeing time pass through these frames; to see the different stages of life pass through each turn of the page. Growing up I wanted to capture the same memories my parents had, but with my life. I started by painting & drawing my memories. It wasn't until I was older that I started to understand my passion. In college I was exposed to darkroom photography. I fell in love. I started to combine my talents in photo with my love for painting. I used my photography skills to push the envelope with my paintings. I love to paint what I photograph. After getting a job as a photography teacher at a high school in a Houston suburb, I really understood my true passion- capturing life's precious fleeting moments- photography.
Photography. Combining Fine Art & Lifestyle Portraiture
As a professional photographer, my photography centers around the authentic. I love capturing those real moments, the candid. I also love to capture the beautiful stages life gives us. Whether it means capturing a graduating senior, young love, old love, families, I love being there for those special life changing moments. I also find beauty in the "mundane". I often tell my students, "what may seem ordinary to you is beautiful to others." We each live a unique life. There is not one correct way of living that life. While you may see your life every day as ordinary, to others not in your shoes, seeing pictures of your daily life is like a beautiful little window into another world. In my sessions I use laughter and casual conversation to help foster a relaxed environment which gives way to natural interactions & beautifully captured moments.
Everything Else.
I am a dangerously-close-to-30 year old, who lives with her wonderful husband, 2 spastic cats, and 2 clumsy dogs.. and Roomba. (It cleans up all the animal fur-it’s basically part of the family.) We live here in Houston where we both grew up, in a tiny but cozy little starter home. I have been art & photography teacher for the last 5 years. This coming year, I have been given the opportunity to run the photography department at my high school. Our lives are growing and changing every day and I love it. We are avid travelers & outdoor people. I hope to one day live up in the mountains, where my soul is most at home. But for now, this is me.
Besides the usual over view of my daily life, here is a tiny glimpse into what it's like to be around me & my quirks. I am extremely albeit, wonderfully, ADD. Although my ADD has a tendency to lead my mind astray it is the source of my creativity and my ability to think/create outside the box. I am an avid book nerd and I will always need to eat something salty after something sweet. I drink more Topo Chico than actual water, and for some reason I call my animals & husband every nickname under the sun that isn't their ACTUAL name.
“it’s always been my philosophy to try to make art out of the everyday and ordinary…it never occurred to me to leave home to make art.” – Sally Mann