Domestic pets, wildlife, and nature have always fascinated me. When I was young, my mother would take me to the library and I would run to the animal section to find picture books to use as references for my drawings. The images inspired my creativity in a profound way.
After a long absence from art, I began experimenting with pastels in 2010. Pastels felt wonderfully natural to me, given my love for drawing, and over time I became obsessed with the medium. Painting a lifelike representation of an animal in pastels is exhausting, but the end result of this labor-intensive process makes it all worthwhile.