Artist Statement
As both an art educator and professional artist, my work is rooted in the belief that art is a powerful form of storytelling, connection, and cultural understanding. Through ceramics, painting, and sculpture, I explore the relationship between history, craftsmanship, and personal expression while encouraging others to discover their own creative voices.
My artistic practice is deeply influenced by my passion for art history and the ways artists throughout time have used visual language to reflect society, identity, and human experience. I draw inspiration from historical techniques, forms, and movements while combining them with contemporary perspectives and materials. Whether working with clay, paint, or mixed media sculpture, I am drawn to texture, form, and the emotional connection created through handmade processes.
As an educator, I strive to create spaces where creativity, curiosity, and confidence can grow. I believe art education should inspire critical thinking, cultural appreciation, and self-expression while making art accessible and meaningful for all learners. My dual role as teacher and practicing artist allows me to continuously evolve, bringing both technical knowledge and personal experience into my work and classroom.
Through my artwork and teaching, I aim to preserve the importance of artistic traditions while encouraging innovation, exploration, and lifelong engagement with the arts.
Photography Lesson
In this photography lesson, students practiced portrait photography techniques using Nikon cameras, light sticks, and a black background to create creative and visually engaging images. Students explored complementary colors to enhance the mood and composition of their portraits while experimenting with lighting placement and camera settings. After capturing their photographs, students used Adobe Lightroom to edit their images by adjusting exposure settings to darken the background and using color adjustment tools to make the light stick colors stand out more vividly. This lesson combined technical photography skills, color theory, and digital editing to help students create professional-quality creative portraits.
Sculpture Lesson
In this lesson, students explored relief sculpture and paper casting techniques by first carving a relief image into clay. Students then created a plaster mold from their clay design and used paper pulp to create a final paper cast. Through this process, students learned about texture, mold-making, positive and negative space, and mixed media sculpture techniques while developing craftsmanship and creative problem-solving skills.
Painting Lesson
In this lesson, students created a realistic pet portrait using acrylic paint while practicing observational drawing, color mixing, layering, and blending techniques. Students used reference photos to study animal features, fur texture, lighting, and proportions in order to create lifelike and expressive paintings. Through the painting process, students strengthened their technical painting skills while learning how portraits can capture personality and emotion through detail and composition.
Art History Journaling Lesson
In this lesson and unit, students explored African art and civilizations from 500 BC to 200 AD through lectures, sketchbook journaling, drawing, and hands-on projects. Students studied the Nok civilization and other early African artistic traditions while learning how sculpture, pottery, and symbolic artwork reflected culture, religion, and leadership. By combining written notes with visual sketches and mini art projects, students developed a deeper understanding of African art history and its importance within world and Western art traditions.