Greater Glider

Fall 23'--12" x 10"--Pyrography & Watercolor

This is one of five pieces that I created as part of my Senior Illustration Thesis. I designed this project with the intent of bringing more awareness to the deterioration of our natural environment which is an inherent result of our treatment of the earth causing drastic climate change and natural disasters, in this case wildfires. By using Pyrography to create these pieces about wildlife impacted by wildfires, I have purposefully connected my medium to my themes. Great Gliders are found in Eastern Australia. These large gliding marsupials were added to the endangered species list in July 2022 a few years after ⅓ of their remaining habits were burned by wildfires. 

Yellow Ilima Flower & Bees

Fall 23'--13" x 10"--Pyrography & Watercolor

This is one of five pieces that I created as part of my Senior Illustration Thesis. I designed this project with the intent of bringing more awareness to the deterioration of our natural environment which is an inherent result of our treatment of the earth causing drastic climate change and natural disasters, in this case wildfires. By using Pyrography to create these pieces about wildlife impacted by wildfires, I have purposefully connected my medium to my themes. Ilima flowers are found throughout the dry and mesic forests of Hawaii and are important to pollinators such as the yellow-faced bee. In addition to development, agriculture and recreational activity, natural disasters such as devastating wildfires in the summer of 2023 are threatening the habitats of these plants and bees. 

Boreal Woodland Caribou

Fall 23'--16" x 11"--Pyrography & Watercolor

This is one of five pieces that I created as part of my Senior Illustration Thesis. I designed this project with the intent of bringing more awareness to the deterioration of our natural environment which is an inherent result of our treatment of the earth causing drastic climate change and natural disasters, in this case wildfires. By using Pyrography to create these pieces about wildlife impacted by wildfires, I have purposefully connected my medium to my themes. This beautiful Canadian animal has been negatively impacted by recent wildfires in 2023.

Iberian Lynx

Fall 23'--8" x 11.5"--Pyrography & Watercolor

This is one of five pieces that I created as part of my Senior Illustration Thesis. I designed this project with the intent of bringing more awareness to the deterioration of our natural environment which is an inherent result of our treatment of the earth causing drastic climate change and natural disasters, in this case wildfires. By using Pyrography to create these pieces about wildlife impacted by wildfires, I have purposefully connected my medium to my themes. The Iberian Lynx, found in only two small areas of southwest Spain, are currently one of the most endangered wild cat species in the world. A devastating 2017 forest fire season in southern Spain threatened a national park which was home to ⅕ of these incredible animals. 

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Fall 23'--2' x 2'--Pyrography & Watercolor

This is one of five pieces that I created as part of my Senior Illustration Thesis. I designed this project with the intent of bringing more awareness to the deterioration of our natural environment which is an inherent result of our treatment of the earth causing drastic climate change and natural disasters, in this case wildfires. By using Pyrography to create these pieces about wildlife impacted by wildfires, I have purposefully connected my medium to my themes. This beautiful bird is a native of Florida. The Yellow-crowned Night Heron experiences a variety of threats to their environments including heat waves, urbanization/deforestation, and wildfires. Each year, thousands of acres of wild land is destroyed by fires. 2023 was a particularly bad year for wildfires in Florida. 

Miss Major

Fall 23'--11" x 8"--Pyrography

Through the use of pyrography, I created a project that highlights two prolific, living Trans icons, who are resilient in advocacy and guidance. This illustrated portrait of Miss Major Griffin Gracy has been forever embedded into this wood panel. Miss Major Griffin Gracy is a gender queer individual who is a stonewall veteran who advocates for lgbtq+ rights as well as prison reform. Researching this individual and burning the portrait with various mark making techniques and depths led to a project engulfed in admiration and the idea of permanence.

Carving Out What is Unspoken

Spring 24'--16" x 11"--Pyrography & Wood Carving

Carving out what is unspoken is an illustration of a girl combined with a rabbit skull with compositional elements chosen that have important symbolic meaning. Rabbits symbolize rebirth, fear, good luck, and new beginnings; and pine symbolizes rebirth with regards to the Japanese New Year, as well as immortality and virtue. Each strip that was carved in the background was a different length, shape, and depth creating this interesting sense of texture and visuals. The background was left as is rather than smoothed out. I made this decision so that viewers can see the roughness with individual marks and flakes of wood representing. Over time, piece-by-piece, the rough wood flakes  will start to heal as they fly away.

"There is no grief like the grief that does not speak." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Kortney Ziegler

Fall 23'--12" x 12"-- Pyrography

Through the use of pyrography, I created a project that highlights two prolific, living Trans icons, who are resilient in advocacy and guidance. This illustrated portrait of Kortney Ryan Ziegler has been forever embedded into this wood panel. Kortney Ryan Ziegler is a Trans man who is an artist, writer, director, and holds a PhD in African American studies. Researching this individual and burning the portrait with various mark making techniques and depths led to a project engulfed in admiration and the idea of permanence.