From a young age I knew that being “normal” was NEVER going to be for me. I thrived on being different. I was the kid who often thought “What’s the most inappropriate, outlandish thing I can say in this moment? What would it be like if I got up in class and punched my teacher in the face? How would people react? What can I do right now to make someone cringe, feel better or most importantly laugh?”
As I grew older I discovered a passion for art, sociology, and greeting cards! As a teenager growing up in Grandview Heights, Ohio I worked at a couple greeting card stores and saw the same thing – generic, lame greeting cards that only touched on ‘safe’ topics. I would look at the rows of monotonous cards and think to myself “I should make greeting cards that trigger a reaction, share an emotion, and most of all, tell the receiver what the giver REALLY thinks of them!”
My designs are an extension of the life I have lived, something that has been anything but ordinary! At the age of 22 (fresh out of college with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art & Visual Communications) I took a chance and moved for a job from Ohio to the Dominican Republic – a country where I didn’t know anyone or speak the local language. It was there I discovered a passion for traveling, international graphic art, and rum (ahora solo hablo un poco español cuando estoy borracha)!
After 2+ amazing years in the Dominican, I took another chance and joined the United States Air Force, spending 4 years as a Graphic Designer stationed in Germany and Virginia. While in Germany I earned my master’s degree in International Relations to obtain a better understanding of how various cultures behave and react specifically to the art I create. Throughout my travels in life and the military I have enjoyed making others laugh, especially when they are from a different culture than mine!
It was in Germany that I met my husband with whom today I share a home, 3 kids (2 boys, 1 girl), 4 “foster-failure” Shar Pei (wrinkle dogs), 2 rescued Persian cats and some fish in Dayton, Ohio. Throughout the years my passions have evolved to include Shar Pei dog rescue, pyrography, baking, gardening, hiking, traveling, obnoxiously dancing, and singing in the kitchen with my kids, playing with my house of animals (and foster dogs) and finding hole in the wall restaurants with my husband.
My Greeting Cards seek to fill the void that few “normal” artists dare to venture – the world of sarcasm, crass humor and brutal honesty.
In my opinion the world is a crazy, way too serious and censored place, so why not share a laugh with someone through one of my Offensive Occasions greeting cards? The world needs to lighten the hell up. These are only jokes people. I’m not being serious when I write a joke about shoving legos up my husband’s ass while he’s sleeping . . . or am I?
