About

I'm a designer and a maker and have been involved in the arts since I was a kid. I grew up in a tiny town in South Texas and started studying dance when I was seven, then singing and acting soon after. I joined a dance company at ten and performed in regional tours and even in a Flamenco floor show in a Mexican restaurant...two shows a night on Sunday nights! That was the first time I earned money doing something I loved and I've never forgotten how good it felt.

Very little about my early life in Texas prepared me for a life in New York City, but my dreams of performing on the Great White Way and seeing my name in lights only intensified as I got older. So, at sixteen I moved to New York's Greenwich Village to study acting and film at New York University's School of the Arts.

I adored everything about school and the city but the tuition at NYU was a burden for my family, so I took a leave of absence to figure out how to keep moving toward my dreams. I took acting classes with Wynn Handman at The American Place Theatre, I auditioned for Stephen Sondheim, and I wrote a screenplay called Shrinking Maria that won me a scholarship at Film/Video Arts, an independent film production center in the Village. Then, one night in an edit bay, I discovered Photoshop and my obsession with the visual arts began.

While my friends waited tables, I typed my fingers to the bones in law firms to pay for rent and classes at School of Visual Arts, Parsons School of Design, Manhattan Graphics Center, and Center for Book Arts. I spent hours and hours at bookstores like the Strand and St. Marks Bookshop, poring over design books I couldn't afford, hoping to learn as much as I could as quickly as possible.

Since my formal design education was limited, I was thrilled the folks at Warner Bros. recognized my (modest) talent and my (tremendous) passion and gave me the opportunity to design websites and games for some of the biggest and best Hollywood movies. It's still one of the most creative gigs I've ever had and I'm forever grateful for it and for the lifelong friends I met there. I made a good living doing what I loved; I know most people on the planet never get that chance.

As much as I enjoyed designing for the web, I love making things you can touch even more – tangible objects that are either functional or decorative (or both). So, after working as an interactive designer and art director at Warner Bros. for nearly 10 years, I took a leap of faith and left full-time work at the Studio to freelance and tackle several personal design projects.

Leaving a good job and exceptional colleagues in the midst of an economic crisis was terrifying, but the risk was well worth it. I'm lucky I can pursue my passions and so pleased I can offer up some of what I create to help you make your house a home.

And just for the record...

• I believe every single person on the planet was born creative.
• I believe the act of creating is a holy one and that when we are in the flow, we are connected to the source.
• I believe in the value of creative self-expression; if you don't share your authentic self with the world, you rob it of your unique voice – a gift that only you can offer.