New Monsters
Addiction and mental health stole so many years away from me, yet I’ve never allowed myself to talk about my life-long struggle in my work—at least not purposefully. Even with decades in recovery, I’ve never trusted myself to make art about my journey. Fear of failure? Shame? Probably.
Over-sensitivity, insecurity, fear, and lack of identity are often associated with active addiction but more than likely, we bring those things into recovery when we get there. For me, they became monsters—something lurking just over my shoulder—waiting.
One of the miracles of recovery is the recognition of ourselves, complete with assets and liabilities. Self esteem begins with this recognition and so does forgiveness. I’ve been learning to forgive my monsters for a long time. I keep finding new ones so I have to become willing to be continually aware of them, to understand them and eventually forgive them. They are a part of me after all and they’re just scared, angry, confused, and hurt.
Change is scary. Our spiritual condition is never static; if we’re not growing, we’re decaying. If we stand still, our physical and spiritual progress will lose it’s positive momentum. Who I am today is also perpetually fluid. I try to grow every day and I have hope every day. I keep track of the monsters. I remember them so that I’ll hopefully recognize them when they peek around my corner again.
I won some really cool awards.
My day job has kept me employed in healthcare marketing for 10 years and when I started as a graphic designer I honestly wanted just that…to have a steady job. Within those 10 years my layouts, concepts, designs and campaigns have won numerous healthcare marketing awards. In 2023 I decided to broaden my reach and submitted work to the Hermes Creative Awards. I submitted a campaign I developed for Primary Care and I submitted the magazine I created (Both for my day job at WVU Medicine Camden Clark).
The Primary Care campaign won Platinum and the Magazine won gold. **pats self on back**
Recovery work and writing
a new history.
These images are part of an ongoing body of work about recovery and history. In making it I accept that, as I get older, memories of my youth fade. I find unparalleled joy in overwriting fresh experiences—a shared history between myself and my son—on top of earlier, blurry, abstracted memories. I’m grateful for this series of work. It lets me patch together the layers of our story as it unfolds.
I’m super excited to have my work featured in Studio Visit Magazine, Volume Forty-nine. For the first time in a very long time I’m making work that is just for me. It feels real good. It also feels good to have validation in being published. My self-esteem needed that.
I’m figuring out who I am again. It’s so fluid, I know. I get it. But still.
Above from left to right: My memory is a worm on Beauty Mountain; 80-HD Don't Fail Me Now OR My memory is 11 first cousins on Lipps Road; My memory is a magentaraffe and four flowers in Greenbrier County; My memory is an inter-dimensional demond at the state fair; My version of how Dav Pilkey changed our lives at the New River Gorge Bridge (Tourist view); My memory is finding serenity on the Greenbrier River with my family, Schmebulock, and rainbows.
All Digital Media and Hand-Drawn Digital Painting of various dimensions. 2021-2022
Otherwise...
Otherwise, what you’ll see here is a small collection of some of my favorite work from the past few years—Digital photography, digital illustration, ink drawings on paper, acrylic on canvas, acrylic on paper.
My work is at it’s best when I can interject a bit of humor. A bit of lightness. A smile, a recognition of a feeling, or a quick one-liner can go a long way toward endearing a message to the viewer.
