Staying grounded in reality is an important facet of my creative life, whether as an artist, an Atheist or as a mental health advocate. Novelty is vital if one is to maintain the creative edge as well as stay firmly rooted in the present. If one forgoes novelty and entrenches themselves in the tropes of the zeitgeist, one no longer has a clear vista from which to gauge the reality in which they are trying to stay rooted. Novelty can big or small, but small is often easier to attain, given the glut of deafening noise present in the world today. Color can be a profound aspect of novel experience and I feel that color comes through in my work, more than anything else, because of my persistent anhedonia. My reality is that I can not take much pleasure from life or express a wide range of outward emotions, so my positive energy manifests in the work I do, rather than from my person.

My primary medium is acrylics, but I have some experience with colored pencils and other drawing techniques. I have some basic digital art experience and work primarily with open-source software, utilizing as much as possible CC0 or public domain graphics and resources. I studied photography in college and still indulge here and there, though I am limited in equipment to whatever cellphone I happen to have on me. I have an interest in history and have some experience leading presentations and book discussions in this regard, so that perhaps qualifies me for curriculum planning. I am a writer as well and have spent the better part of the last two years publishing on the web a variety of short pieces on various subjects and in various mediums, such as poetry, fiction, cultural commentary and religious criticism. I am also working on a mental health ebook project, designed to be an introductory workbook for people with limited access to mental health resources, for which I have written and illustrated. I make scarves by hand from chunky knit yarn, and have done some limited mural/graffiti work for an escape room business in Ames.