I have loved art ever since I was a child. My parents tell me that as a toddler I would sort my toys by color. Later, I would build houses for my dolls out of shoe boxes and pictures of furniture that I cut out from magazines. Markers were my favorite medium to draw with and I produced hundreds of drawings of animals and food with faces on them! In fifth grade my class was taught embroidery, and this opened up a whole new world to me. I became very interested in sewing and I started creating dolls out of felt, as well as an entire wardrobe for them to wear. This soon led me to quilting, and I started designing and selling pillows to my friends and family.
When computers were introduced to my school, I discovered the program, Paint. I enjoyed this new medium for my art and would create a new digital drawing whenever I had spare time in class. At home my parents bought me a program called Kid Pix which I used to design programs and posters for plays I would perform for my family. I used Kid Pix for my very first graphic design assignment, which was to design a logo for my teen singing group at my church. My logo appeared on our t-shirts and church bulletins.
In eighth grade I was introduced to Adobe Photoshop when we were given an assignment in my art class to design a CD cover. I was amazed by what the program could do! In high school I enrolled in the Commercial Art program at our local Polytech, where I finally learned principles of graphic design, as well as Photoshop, Illustrator and Quark Express. It was then that I chose graphic design as a career. Upon graduation I attended County College of Morris, where I received my A.A.S. in Graphic Design, and then transferred to Kutztown University where I graduated in May 2013 with a B.F.A. in Communication Design with a dual concentration in Graphic Design and Advertising.
As Harvey MacKay said, "Find something you love to do and you'll never have to work a day in your life." Graphic design has given me a great outlet for my creativity and I am fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to do what I love for my work.