My artwork is a vibrant celebration of the natural world, filtered through a lifelong love of color and pattern. I grew up immersed in the tropical canopy of Miami and the lush countryside of Ireland. In both environments, I was dazzled by the small wonders of nature – shells, feathers, and petals –  each alive with texture and hue. This early sense of awe still inspires my imagery today. 

I began my art career painting fantasy landscapes. That love for creating detailed, imagined worlds transitioned into my work as a textile designer for the apparel industry. My textile experience continues to influence my work at every level, and pattern is always where it begins. I’m drawn to repetition—to the way shapes and colors build on one another until a surface feels alive. Patternmaking feels both instinctive and meditative to me, a way of bringing order to chaos; through repetition, I find a sense of calm and grounding.

Having young children, along with my fascination with animals and their habitats, inspired my career as a children’s book author and illustrator of nonfiction picture books.  I consider my approach stylized realism. I honor the anatomy and behavior of my subjects while amplifying their essence through embellished pattern, luminous color, and expressive detail. I am drawn to intricacy. From the hair-fine spines of a lionfish to the speckled bark of a sycamore, I revel in depicting every feature with precision and care.

My years in textile design, book illustration, and painting have shaped how I build an image. I work in layers, mark by mark, until scattered parts begin to connect. I’m always looking for balance — enough detail to feel immersive, enough structure to hold it together.

Now I’ve moved toward fantasy, not as a departure from realism but as a way to push beyond its boundaries. Through nonfiction, I learned to see the world clearly. Now, I’m allowing my vision to wander into more whimsical, fanciful territory. It’s exciting for me to create images from my imagination again. It feels like I’ve returned home.

Though my work has grown and changed, it’s still guided by the same wide-eyed wonder I felt as a child in Miami and Ireland where nature first taught me the sheer joy of color and pattern. Ultimately, I hope to invite the viewer to share in that joyful sense of discovery.