Growing up, I was always that “art” kid, playing outside catching bugs and putting worms in my pockets. There wasn’t a time in my childhood where I didn't have a pet, be it a hermit crab, hamster, parakeet, or a tadpole that eventually morphed into a frog. From it’s inception of my creative journey, the natural world was always my muse. With two loud brothers and having parents that mainly left us unsupervised, I would spend most of my time alone, drawing animals in my sketch books.

When I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always “Artist”. Vividly, I remember one of my teachers responding with “Really? Are you sure?” Many times throughout my life, I had a well-meaning loved one plant seeds of doubt in my mind that made me believe that the world wasn’t made for people like me. I struggled with this belief for years as I tried to go down a more conventional path. Truthfully, creating art has always felt natural to me while everything else has made me feel like a fish trying to climb a tree.

I’ve quit on my art multiple times for days, weeks, even years. The older I became, the more shame I felt for not finding the place I belonged in the world. In 2019, I discovered needle felting. It’s a fiber art that involves sculpting with wool roving by poking it repeatedly with a barded needle. It’s a simple craft yet has endless possibilities. For the first time in years, I fell in love with making art again.

Fiber art became my favorite activity. Making realistic sculptures of birds became my focus, however, each sculpture took many weeks to complete (it’s a slow craft.) During this time, my dream to prioritize my art came to the forefront of my thoughts. My goal was to make my art sustainable enough so I could take some time off my day job and spend more time doing what I love. Never did I feel this goal was impossible, even so, there was a lot of pain behind trying to make it work. One day, I was scrolling through Instagram, and I stumbled across a taxidermist that was showing her process on a vibrantly colored little bird.

In that moment, that was the first time I witnessed the process of taxidermy. Prior to this, I can’t say I had an interest in taxidermy and had very little knowledge about the artform. However, in that moment, I never felt called to do something so strongly in my life. Everything finally made sense. Months went by and that feeling never went away. I had so many questions - “What supplies do I need? How is this done? Where do I find specimens?” A friend of mine mentioned he was going to a reptile expo and I asked him if he saw any frozen chicks there (sold as reptile food) to please pick some up for me. Later that day, he reached out to let me know he found some. Despite not knowing much about taxidermy and how it was done, I gave it a go.  

The opportunity to continue the journey of the natural world in death has given me a profound sense of purpose.  Taxidermy has meshed all of my worlds together into one and I am so happy to share it with the world. I will forever be a student of taxidermy.

Without my bird-watching partner for life, my fiancé Mario, I don’t believe I would have made it this far. He is my unpaid studio assistant, he surprises me with tools and equipment for my business, and he selects all of the music for my content. He proudly tells family and friends about the work that I’m doing. His belief in me has been the brightest light in my life.