Self Education

Managing the growth of my art career, sustaining my education, and surviving in these times.

Apr 02, 2026

Today is a beautiful and fabulous day in Greenville, SC. The last few days, I have been reading art books that I have been carrying back and forth between my home and studio. It has been a struggle to begin these books and to allow my brain to enter a state of learning again. When I finally cracked open the covers and dusted the cobwebs of my mind, it felt amazing!

Three Books: The Artist's Complete Health & Safety Guide, Ink for Printmaking, & The Printmaking Bible — Books I am Currently Reading

Current education goals:

How to improve my personal art practice (broader information about mediums I am not as familiar with)
integrating my natural color practice within printmaking
improving my shop standards & how to safely teach others

I am looking forward to integrating more books and technical writings into my weekly practice.

Non-Art. Working?

Last week, I became a full-time employee at the cafe. This was a decision due to knowing I would be dedicating my entire life to art this Fall when I enter the Master’s program at Clemson. I have been working at the cafe for a year now, and I love being a part of a local community uplifting farmers. With that said, I am a bit drained from working full-time plus spending my only days off at the studio or the time-consuming tasks of owning a small business. Some weeks, I push my body to a breaking point, and then I force myself to step back.

One of the things I have learned in the last few years is that balancing my life and art practice is very difficult as a beginner. When I begin my MFA journey, I will be diving headfirst and wholly focused on my fine art education. I cannot describe how excited I am for this! For now, I struggle with experimenting with the various facets of being an artist, worker, and young person in today’s world.

Artisphere & The Contemporary Print Collective

Now….. Let’s get to the fun things! I am a (newish) member of the Contemporary Print Collective, and every year, they do a large steamroller press print at Artisphere. We have 15 blocks, all carved by different printmakers, which will form a large quilt pattern. Coming from Iowa, I value local produce and regionalism. When I was tasked with making a 1’ x 1’ print representing the beauty of the SC Upstate, my first thought was produce! This was my first experience carving MDF, and I hated it! I found out after that you can apply a coat of… something?… to make it a better carving experience. Maybe I will try that in the future, if I want to be a sadist and subject myself to MDF again.

Carved MDF Block pf vegetables including carrots, yams, tomatos, greenbeans, etc. — The Block

close up of my carved block with a close up on the tomatos and greenbeans with carved texture and line work

Painting

Last month, I picked up my acrylic paint and got to work on some cheerful paintings. As someone who makes political/social commentary artwork, it might be a bit ironic to say that when the world is crazy and politics are everywhere, I hit a major block in my creativity. Instead, I needed to make something joyful to counter the insanity. Joy is power, and I try to redeem it when I need it most.

Thus, my latest painting is a plucked diva. I intend to expand my chicken cutlet storyline into a small series. The first one is a full portrait of one of my chicken burlesque dancers. This is majorly a work in progress, and I am developing my color palette slowly. Unfortunately, I have really stalled my progress in the last few weeks. I am hoping to pick back up soon.

sexy dancing chicken painting — Work in progress, painting

Additionally, I threw together a little sign above my studio door. I used inspiration from my great-grandmother’s rosemaling paintings alongside my illustrations.

hand painted welcome sign with a frog center.

My doorway with my welcome sign hung above it and my artwork framing both sides.

What art stuff is happening outside my studio?

Last night I attended an opening show about social commentary. It is being held at the Warehouse Theatre in Downtown Greenville in conjunction with the play “The Mountaintop” about Martin Luther King Jr. You can stop by the theatre to view “Carnivore Tax Break” and other fabulous pieces by local artists. Here are some other events happening this month: