I take after my mother, a Graphic Artist by trade and an artist and photographer by hobby. As a child , being the only girl in a group of four children, I drew to pass the time. My abusive father assured me I wouldn’t amount to anything as an artist, and so during the few years my father had sole custody of me I didn’t do much with art. But at age 15 I went to live with my mother and once again was bitten by the art bug. In 1987, after being rejected by, and at the advice of, Otis Parsons L.A., I took a drawing course at UNLV. At that time my mother was also teaching me photography and I had joined the Nevada Camera Club. As an admirer of Andy Warhol and Stephen Sprouse. I began combining painting and photography. From there I taught myself to manipulate my photos digitally with Adobe Photoshop. Proving my father wrong, my works have been published in print, online, and even in film. But more importantly, art is and forever will be my voice. It allows me to express myself in ways I never could with words. I discover and I heal, and sometimes I just scream – visually as opposed to vocally. As well as expressing my own feelings, I find my work reaches a lot of people who have been through similar life experiences. I hope to help them feel not so alone, as well as to educate those who would otherwise look away.