I am a graphic designer and artist working in Wisconsin.
I have experience in design, illustration techniques, marketing & communications.
My design aesthetic includes bold color, rich texture, a nod to the visual past when it suits the job, & an emphasis on communicating in a way that makes sense to the reader. I’m always looking for ways to communicate the specific message in the piece I’m creating, which means I can produce a wide variety of work, from a clean, corporate vibe to a fun and funky look for a show or program.
I am accustomed to listening carefully, asking questions, and learning what I need to know to do a great job. I also understand the crucial role great communications play in the success of any business.
With my background in writing, marketing and communications, I won’t just dump your text in the design without reading it. You can expect a fully integrated designer who can give positive, constructive feedback when needed and take it as well. I’ll do my best to assure that your work says exactly what you want it to say.
I realize that I haven't posted as much as I should about the work I'm doing. Here are some more qrt quilt images.
Beach Girl - This is the first one I made after my first portrait for the Social Justice Sewing Academy, back in 2021. I love the way the flowers just jump off her.
And here is one I did of my SIL Pam when she was a child. This one was completed in 2024, but I worked on it on and off for about a year and a half. Life gets kinda busy. This one is nearly life-size (for a child of about two that is, not the size she is now. 😊)
Somehow I've become the repository for many family photos. This is both a blessing and a curse. I'm always concerned that they will be lost or damaged, and they take up some room.
The blessing is that they are a wonderful resource for art. This is a portrait quilt of my uncle Lee. I'm not sure, no one is around to tell me how old he was, but this looks like maybe his first school portrait. I just loved the expression.
I added the frog because every young boy needs a frog.
Some time ago I did a volunteer project for a wonderful organization called the Social Justice Sewing Academy Remembrance Project. Volunteers are to create a portrait for someone list to violence. This is from their website:
The project remembers those lost to: authority violence (officer-involved shooting, police brutality, etc.), community violence (victims of gang violence, neighborhood or family, drive-by shooting, etc.), race (hate crimes, racially motivated, etc.), and gender and sexuality (violence against LGBTQ +, domestic violence, “missing, murdered Indigenous women,” etc.).
This project was truly life changing for me. It set my art on a completely new path. After I submitted the first quilt I decided to do more portraits. When my father did in February, I realized that I wanted to make a second portrait for the project. Here it is.
So, a while ago I found this supply of wooden houses for an unreasonably low price. I bought as many as I could imagine a) justifying the cost and b) justifying the space to store until I figured out what the heck I was going to do with them. I do tend to hoard my favorite supplies, something I'm trying to get over.
So I started out by painting a few of them and then they sat around in my studio for a while, trying to guilt me into working on them by being just cool little houses. But this week, this week I finally found the idea for a couple of them and now I'm sort of kicking myself that I didn't get more of the houses when I could.
Still, these are a great start.
This first one is called Sea House. I painted it, this mottled blue/green, intending all along for it to be a sea theme, but it wasn't until I added the papers at the back of the niches that I started thinking about what I wanted to put on the front panel. I am just so pleased with my saucy little mermaid.
The second I'm calling Tea House. I started out with an idea of using tea bag labels for shingles for the house. The tea pot handle and spout were a splendid accident and I love the miniature tea cup. I was very inspired by some recent research I've been doing into steampunk art and Victorian looking stuff.
