Drawing is at the root of my art, and has been ever since I sketched with a No. 2 pencil as a child. Back then I was influenced by N.C. Wyeth’s book illustrations and etchings by Albrecht Dürer. Mistaking Dürer’s prints for drawings, I attempted to copy the style with a pencil, later moving to pen and ink and then to a Rapidograph pen, a mechanical pen used by architects and engineers. Inspired by Dürer’s use of fine line, my work took on a level of focus and detail that continues to this day, a precision that is not just a means of artistic expression but a form of meditation. Borne of fantasy and a fascination for rainforests, my drawings range from travel sketchbooks that serve as trip journals to large-scale works that have taken over three years to complete.

For my entire life I have been a traveler, hiker, and amateur naturalist, always taking a pad of paper with me. In 2006, I hiked 350 miles of the Appalachian Trail carrying four pounds of pads, pencils, and magic markers with me. My drawing portfolio contains work done while camping in Morocco, hiking in Costa Rica, working in Nigeria, traveling from Paris to India by car, bus, and train, and crisscrossing Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize.