About the Artist
My Favorite Self Portrait
I am the art geek; also known by my nickname Pepper. The works you will view on this site
have a nice bit of history behind them. The following is that story...
I grew up in a small town in New Jersey by the George Washington Bridge. Along with practicing
art in my spare time my entire life, I have had the gift of being able to visit some of the
world's best museums and study great art up close. As a child birthdays were spent either
at the Natural History Museum or the MET.
Along with the cheerful childhood moments, we as a family have had much loss. Loved ones passing away and
the usual heartache most families face through out their lives. I have since turned much
of the painful times into my muse, as you might notice in my art. It's a way to keep their
memory alive and share with others the beauty of these people I have the pleasure to call a part of my family.
Eventually this hobby turned into a passion; an obsession. Throughout high school I tried
to spend as much time painting as possible. By my Senoir year, I was taking mostly
art courses and rarely left my painting station.
I declared myself a BFA art major when entering college. I took many art classes; drawing,
life drawing, painting, chinese ink painting, silk screening, textiles, computer art,
and numerous studio and history classes. I also worked in the slide room of the art department
where I was exposed to hundreds of slides of art from different places and time periods. I
had many professors who challenged me. They genuinely wanted us to succeed and went above
and beyond the call of duty to force us to see our potential.
Currently, after earning my Masters in Education, I took a position teaching middle school art.
I am trying to find the artist that went into hiding when the teacher came out. Teaching,
an art within itself, is fullfilling but art is so important to me and I do not want to
loose that. This site (created by me!) is part of my effort to keep that artist alive.
I hope you enjoyed my story, but I hope you enjoy my art much more!
