After returning to Iowa post-service, I completed dual AA and AS degrees in Liberal Arts at DMACC, where I led the Environmental Science Club, co-managed The Chronicle, and served on the Earth Week Committee. I later earned my BFA in Studio Arts and Graphic Design from Grand View University with honors, and was Vice President of AIGA’s student chapter.

I worked as the full-time Artist & Designer at Firetrucker Brewery, where I covered everything from beer can illustration to spatial storytelling. I freelanced for two years before pursuing graduate study.

I earned my MFA in Integrated Visual Arts at Iowa State University, where I taught Design in Context and Exploration in Art, developed interdisciplinary installations, and expanded into 3D and socially engaged practices.

Making Meaning with a Blowtorch

A Teaching Philosophy &

A Manifesto for Creative Becoming

Execution is not the assignment.

I don’t teach art in the traditional sense. I invite people to think, to feel—and most importantly, to believe their thoughts and feelings matter.

Everything begins with this truth: Concept comes before execution. Art doesn’t need to be flawless to be real. It just needs to be true.

The first spark isn’t line or form or color theory. It’s Dada. Absurdity. Rebellion. Unmaking. It’s the moment you realize meaning can be torn apart and rebuilt your way. Not to dismiss technique—but to unshackle expression from the fear that it isn’t “good enough.” Because that fear? It kills more ideas than failure ever could. And when you realize your job isn’t to impress—but to communicate To echo. To signal. To be felt?

That’s when it gets good.

That’s when it gets honest.

This forge isn’t a classroom. It’s a heat source. Not a production line for portfolio pieces—but a crucible. Where identity gets tempered. Where contradiction is welcome. Where your weirdness has weight.

This is for the ones who’ve been told to “tone it down.” For the ones who’ve been called too much, too messy, too loud, too strange. For anyone who's ever been told to wait until they’re “good enough.”

You don’t have to wait.

You don’t have to shrink.

You only have to show up and mean it.

Art can be your weapon or your blanket, your whisper or your war cry. What matters is that it’s yours.

And that you gave it breath.

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The Smoke After the Flame

You don’t need permission to begin.

You only need the match you’ve always had in your hand.

This is the forge.

Not everyone’s ready for it.

But you are.

Let the system squirm.

Let the rules tremble a little.

You didn’t show up to blend in.

You showed up to burn honest.

And don’t worry—there’s still room for velvet shields.

This isn’t about swinging hammers at glass hearts.

It’s about teaching them how to dance in the fire.

You don’t have to be the best.

Just brave.

Just true.

And never forget—

your weirdness is not a liability.

It’s the whole damn spell.