#1. Hello?

I have been a creatively blocked artist since I started art school in 2010. The older I get and the further I move from my teenage years of rebellious exploration, the more clarity I gain about my future. Being stifled by my potential—or rather, my potential potential—has made me a creatively cautious adult who daydreams for more time and freedom for creative play.

Recently, I reflected on my early twenties and the aspirations I once held. Most of what I hoped for, I have achieved: I teach art at a school I love, surrounded by a faculty that feels like my tribe. However, I didn't anticipate the trap of my own making—a constant drive towards the next thing, the next degree, the next theoretical area of improvement. In this relentless pursuit, I never allowed myself to pause and truly evaluate what I love and enjoy. What do I want to spend my finite time doing?

What I love is art, the flow of making, enjoying the process of drawing a mark and seeing where it leads me. That is why I have created this little blog as a tiny public sketchbook of my practice and progress—no masterpieces will be posted here, just mastery in the making :)

This is my cat, Muffin. She also goes by Martin Bananas in the office or Marty among friends. She is my best friend and arch-nemesis. Here, you can see her supporting my creative career by offering some useful feedback on sketches.

This is a self-portrait—you can see how lively and passionate I must have felt. Growing up, I would have loved to be an extra on Hey Arnold!