I grew up around art and have been surrounded by it all my life. I began painting with the vision to combine all the aspects I love best about my favorite art, and most importantly, to express my own unique voice and opinions. I think of my work as pop-folk art, a combination of both pop art and folk art, with strong roots in modernism. My work is influenced by Matisse, Modigliani, Andy Warhol, Margaret Macintosh Macdonald, Marie Laurencin, and my late grandfather, John Riva.

My educational pursuits have included Literature, Art History, Women's Studies, French, and Martial Arts. After receiving my degree in English & Comparative Literature from The University of Texas at Austin in 2000, I began painting seriously again, and have been doing so ever since.

Merci Beaucoup