Birds of a Feather NOLA

I studied business at Tulane University\'s AB Freeman with a concentration in Marketing and took every free opportunity I could to explore different mediums of art. I was particularly interested in natural mediums and gravitated toward the use of feathers and wax. Inspired by the costume and revelry of New Orleans, I began making feather pieces, particularly focusing on head pieces. Encounters with Mardi Gras Indians and their culture fueled my inspiration, and my designs became bigger and more exaggerated. In 2005, I moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand to teach English and to explore the world, and after Hurricane Katrina changed the landscape of the city I love, I continued living abroad for 6 years studying different mediums of art around the world. While living in Asia, I apprenticed under an artist who specialized in encaustic painting with natural beeswax. The versatility, rarity, and ability to use mixed media really appealed to me, as well as the ability to incorporate my photography into another medium. Over the next 6 years I would study batik-making in Malaysia, Kanji in China, paper-making in Central America, beading in India and Mexico, and numerous other mediums of art. After 6 years of wandering the world, I decided to move back to the city that has always held my heart, and that it was my turn to be a part of the rebuilding process in New Orleans through art.