General Background
Once constant through line throughout my life has been an interest in visual arts, which I’ve continued to foster into a hobby of traditional illustration covering a variety of mediums. While not pursuing this as a profession, I still highly value my skills and use physical mediums as a creative outlet to capture various moments throughout my life.
Keeya Portrait
Beginning in 2018, I volunteered at the Dallas Zoo, helping to care for a range of mammals and birds. More specifically, I worked closely with our large mammals department, providing regular care and habitat maintenance for our Giraffe, Greater Kudu, and Zebras. Over time, I grew to love the animals I cared for and appreciated the many things I was able to learn through caring for them.
During early 2021, Keeya, a female zebra under our care, unfortunately passed. Having cared for her for nearly 3 years, I was heavily hit by her death, and wanted to not only work through my emotions, but also memorialize her for my fellow keepers and keeper aides. In the days following, I worked to produce the portrait below, ultimately donating it to the barn where she lived.
Additional Studies
Beyond passion projects like this, I’ve also refined my artistic skills with a number of formal studies, ranging from figure drawing to still-life. While at the University of Texas at Dallas, I engaged in several illustration courses to help refine these skills, focusing on realism and composition.
