I’ve been an artist since I could hold an implement as a toddler, and by the time I reached my early teens soft pastel became my first favorite medium for creating imagery. After creating my first full body of work in the early 2000’s, my interest in the pastels I was using began to pick up as I started to discover that not all colors were going to retain their shade or vibrancy over time. Following this discovery I launched head first into researching pigments used by modern artists, which led to an education in the pigments used by historical artists. As I continued to develop my knowledge, I began to go out on expeditions to see if I could find usable pigments out in the wild.