Tell me about yourself as an artist!
I'm an illustrator living in the woods outside of Portland, OR. I've been making art since I was 14, and doing it full time for six years. I like to work in a lot of different media, since I enjoy the experimentation, and my favorite media are watercolor, colored pencil, and digital (mostly Procreate with a little Illustrator and Photoshop thrown in).
What inspires you?
I find inspiration pretty much everywhere, but I'm most inspired by nature, books, and other artists. In nature, animals are particularly inspiring to me, since it is so fun to imagine what they might get up to when we're not looking. I love to read books of all sorts for inspiration, but my favorites are older folklore. The myths that we are all familiar with from childhood are my favorites to play with as they are so meaningful to all of us, but in different ways.
A lot of your artwork features cats. Can you tell us why you love them? (I mean we all love our kitties so this might be a silly question lol)
I've adored cats ever since I can remember. My family had very sweet Maine Coons when I was little, and I always found their company to be so lovely. As a fellow introvert, I think I related well to the way they would establish boundaries when they wanted some space to themselves. Visually, I find all animals very inspiring, but cats are just so familiar, and I am so acquainted with their personalities, that I find it easy to work them into illustration ideas.
Do you have any cats IRL?
I have one very cranky old lady cat, a tiny black longhaired kitty named Lydia. Other than a couple of years when I lived with roommates who were allergic to cats, I've lived with cats my entire life. I think my home would feel very empty without one.
We love your moon zine! How did you get into witchcraft?
Thanks so much! As a kid, I voraciously read fairy tales, and I always found myself very drawn to the magical characters. Male characters were allowed to be wizards or some other benevolent magician, but female characters were always evil witches. I think that realization had big impact on who I became as a woman and a feminist. As a teenager, when I discovered that people still practiced witchcraft, I was enthralled and very excited to be able to take part in the rituals and community. For me, it is a way to reclaim my power as a woman and to reconnect to nature. My relationship with witchcraft is always evolving, and I love that it is a practice that is open enough to evolve with me.
What's something that most people don't know about you?