I was always the art nerd from a young age. I always loved creating, painting, drawing—all of that. For Christmas, my grandma would get me big boxes full of art supplies. I was the art club president in high school when I was in my senior year. So, I would say 2006 or 2007 is when I started getting serious about it, but it’s been a lifelong passion.
When I started getting into college painting classes, I felt like there were people who were so much better than I was. … So, [peer competition] inspired me to keep pushing myself and develop my own art style.
One of my favorite paintings is a black-and-white photo I did of [the back door of my childhood home]. My parents have an older home, and they have doors with the keyholes and antique doorknobs. [The painting is] hanging at my current house, and it’s just nice because it’s a connection to my family. … We’d always come in the back door, [never] the front door, so it’s kind of a childhood thing.
[When I’m painting], I’m very in my element. Even if it’s a subject I’ve never painted before or a new kind of medium I’m using … I feel like that’s when I’m the most confident, even if it’s something I don’t know how to do yet, because I know I’ll get it.