I think most things are pretty magical, and that it’s less a matter of belief than it is one of just stopping to notice.” ― Neil Gaiman, Coraline
What’s up everyone!
I am a 24 year old artist coming to you this spring from Boston. While I am a first time Augustan, I spent eight magical years at a summer camp in my hometown growing up. Camp Perry Lane is a place of imagination and play. I still walk the trails and relive the memories every time I visit home. Summer camp was such a formative and special experience that I hold close to my heart. Little me is so excited to have the opportunity to be a part of it again!
I grew up in the beautiful Berkshires where the great outdoors was our playground. In the summers we were hanging out by the river or at the track watching dirt bike races, in the winters we were ice fishing or building snow forts. All it took to go camping was gathering our supplies and taking a fifteen minute walk behind a friends house into the woods. Looking forward to returning to my natural state of being covered in equal parts dirt and glitter this summer :).
I absolutely love school and stretching my brain. Choosing a favorite subject is almost as hard for me as choosing a favorite meal. I have studied both environmental science and sociology so far in college, and am waiting to hear back about attending film school in the fall (keep me in your thoughts!).
I have been an artist since I was born. Paint brush in hand, as they say. They don’t say that? Oh, well, they say it about me! I started my creative journey as many of us do, with papier-mache and macaroni necklaces, humble beginnings. Art class was my safe space in my otherwise chaotic upbringing. I grew so attached to creation as it was the only accessible outlet for me to express and process how I felt when I was younger. Working on any kind of art project is my favorite thing to do with the kids in my life, it is such a joy to witness the ways others channel their creativity. My heroes growing up were my art teachers, maybe one day I’ll end up as one myself!
I have grown to become a jack of all trades type. I have made music videos and album cover art for my unbelievably talented friends, up-cycled clothing, painted murals in my apartments (one of them is pictured here, don’t tell my landlords!), and even shot promotional photography for my friends make up line. The common thread in my recent work is utilizing trash. On my daily walks my eyes are glued to the ground in search of metal bits, like a big featherless crow. The city is ripe with shiny objects for me to turn into wind chimes and jewelry.
The beautiful thing about treasure is that it exists. It exists to be found. How beautiful it is to find treasure. Where is the treasure, that when found, leaves one eternally happy? I think we all know it exists. Some say it is inside us — inside us one and all. That would be strange. It would be so near. Then why is it so hard to find, and so difficult to attain? -Log Lady, Twin Peaks
I have always been a foodie, favoring cooking shows over cartoons when I was a kid (except for Adventure Time, best cartoon ever). Over the pandemic I had the time to really step my game up, experimenting with all kinds of laborious recipes. It started as a love of the wizardry and the science, and became something so powerful in terms of my relationships. My apartment perpetually smells of garlic, and is the place that people come when they need a home cooked meal. My community has gotten so much stronger because of the recipes we prepare together that illustrate who we are and where we come from. The time we spend sharing stories and laughing at the table, completely present and relaxed, has formed the type of deep bonds that make life worth living.
"The shapes are always changing. Changing is their normal state, like us. Even if we're not changing on the outside, we're changing on the inside constantly. There's some stuff about me that I'd been ignoring for a long time. I'm afraid of that stuff. But its part of who I am. As long as I know the shape of my soul, I'll be all right” -Jake the Dog, Adventure Time
I have found many of my favorite humans through volunteer work and have been participating in service since high school, when I worked with an animal shelter. Since then I have volunteered with organizations who focus on things such as environmental policy, harm reduction, reducing hunger in college students, and connecting folks struggling with housing insecurity to resources. I was even a lead on a civic engagement project in college; my team and I registered over two hundred students to vote in a semester!
This past year I spent my Friday mornings setting up the local farmers market, scoring a loaf of fresh focaccia or a bundle of the most mouthwatering fresh produce here and there. From the market I head to Friday Night Supper Club, preparing meals in a church basement for a sit down dinner, free to the public. The organization focuses on dignity; the tables are clothed and set with silverware, bread baskets and butter, even vases with flowers arranged from donated bouquets from local shops. We prepare six different dishes for around 100 people, including a soup and a dessert. It feels a bit like being on a cooking competition show, as we don’t always know what we will be getting for ingredients before we get there. I have sympathy for the sweaty, clock-watching chefs on Chopped now!
Drawing great fulfillment from working in a professional kitchen helped me to realize that cooking as a career may be a path worth exploring. As these thoughts were swirling around in my head, an eccentric and fabulous person (who you may know as Chef Eddie), mentioned a job opportunity I may be interested in… and here I am! The world works in mysterious ways.
“I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.” -Harry Truman, Twin Peaks
Some fast facts:
Twin Peaks is my all time favorite fictional universe.
I spent a year as the resident photographer for a diy music venue in Boston.
I recently fell back in love with reading, after many years of not reading a single book, I read 20 last year!
I once traded a commissioned painting in exchange for sleeping on someones couch in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
Swimming is my favorite human experience, if it’s not your strong suit, I got you!
I will be applying for Survivor in the coming years, hidden immunity idol searching is totally my thing.
I am a huge film nerd, let’s talk your favorites!
I write almost every day, mostly about ideas that I hope to be on the big screen some day.
I was never going to become anything but myself, that I was of the clan of Peter Pan and we did not grow up” Patti Smith, Just Kids
I’m so beyond excited and grateful to have the opportunity to return to a setting that gave me some of my most beloved memories. Looking forward to sharing the adventure with you all!
"In Case I Don't See Ya, Good Afternoon, Good Evening And Goodnight.” -Truman, The Truman Show
