As the perpetual new girl I learned that after a move, before new friends were found there were my old friends: Books.

Yeah, I was that girl. I read everywhere and anywhere — often I'd read while walking home from school — much to the embarrassment of my brothers who’d walk on the other side of the street. 

I learned early on to read people’s stories in the lines of their posture, or in the tilt of a head, the movement of a hand. I learned early on that often the truest stories are the ones I could hear whispering  just beneath the surface of the words being spoken.

And as an adult I’ve continued the tradition of new girl — I’ve moved a lot, travelled a lot and I’ve learned that the gift of my childhood was: New Girl has a Variety of Experiences to Draw From.

I attended art school with a major in fine arts, photography and a minor in Comparative Literature.

I’ve earned my living as a weaver, a pattern designer, a newspaper typesetter, a production knitter, a research assistant, a garden designer, a net mender, an illustrator, a ceramic painter, a graphic designer and an art director.

I've worked in book stores and small non-profits. I've worked for large publishers, small gift publishers + artists and authors.

I share this part of my story — with a bit of the wanderings — to say that few of us follow a straight line to any destination, including how we make a living.

We often get where we’re going in what may seem like a random series of left and right turns — but taking a moment to look back, we often see there was actually nothing random about it.

I believe the stories that come from our excursions in life are the same things that keep leading us forward — curiosity, self-expression, enthusiasm, restlessness — and they make the getting there so much more rich and interesting.

The World of Design is an amazing place where Stories become images; Experiences become containers and packages; Color brings emotion and clarity; and Words can be rendered to tell a deeper story. 

Today I work primarily as a Book Designer, Illustrator and Squarespace Website Designer and I can honestly say that my New Girl was with me on all the winding paths that got me here. Through everything, my constants have remained:

Books. Color. Painting. Listening to Stories. Telling Stories.

I believe these constants — these core experiences — serve me well as a Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Art Director. It's one of my greatest delights to grasp the nuance of a story and get to the core of the meaning for each one of my projects.

My goal as a designer and illustrator is to help you communicate your idea, translate your vision, share your story — and create a beautiful bridge that connects your work to your truest audience — we all need a hand with this stuff . . .

I'd love to hear your story . . .