Connect What is your favorite type of art to create?

Art that helps me work through my thoughts and feelings gives the piece so much meaning. I probably work most often in watercolor and ink, but oil painting and pastels will always hold a soft spot in my heart. I especially love to mix mediums so that I don't have to choose. Creating art that stops people and makes them look closer is what I strive for, I want to make them think and try to apply the themes I've cultivated to their own lives.

Where do you find inspiration?

Of course other artists are an inspiration to me for style, technique, and composition. But what motivates me to create are complex feelings or ideas that I feel the need to work out or express; painting and drawing just happen to be the modality that works for me the best. It's like creating a language that can give others such a specific insight to what I am trying to say. There is something deeply human to feel understood, it's a connection to others that transcends.

What would you do with $25,000?

I would use the prize money to invest in my art practice through new materials, equipment, and creating new work. More than anything, it would give me the freedom to create with fewer limitations and grow creatively while balancing everyday responsibilities. I also want to share my work with a wider audience and continue creating art that genuinely connects with and inspires people.