I am a designer, illustrator & printmaker. I work in digital and analog Illustration & design. I have a soft spot for projects that are expressed through screen printing – my style is heavily influenced by its process, and it's a medium that I love.
HOORAY FOREVER PRODUCT LINE
I love to make things. These things often start as drawings and usually end up as screen printed notebooks, pouches, bags, prints, zines, posters, notecards, and more. I screen print my products myself at Ocelot Print Shop, and I sew and assemble them myself at my home studio. I sell my handmade, vegan products under the name Hooray Forever:
Hooray Forever is a celebration of things I love, created by my own hand in small batches. Each item I make is a reminder of things that make me happy – dogs, food, color – created through hands-on, creative processes that provide me with a great deal of satisfaction. My hope is that these things will make you happy, too.
Through Hooray Forever, I am sharing my love of drawing and screen printing by creating fun, useful objects and gifts that feel good to use and add color to everyday life.
Stockists: Signal-Return (Detroit) | Printed Matter (NY) | Wildcard (Pittsburgh) | City Bird (Detroit) | Craft Handmade (Adrian) | Domestica (Des Moines) | White Rabbit (Iowa City) | Rescued (Moline)
DAY JOB
I am one of four co-owners of Ocelot Print Shop, a community screen printing shop and artist's collective in Detroit's Cass Corridor. Ocelot Print Shop is dedicated to providing a collaborative work space to members of the community, offering non-traditional education in the form of classes and skill shares, and offering full design and screen print services. I feel lucky and thankful to be able to say that I love my "day job" and the people I work with.
ART & CRAFT
I graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in Fine Arts, and my work has been exhibited at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Signal-Return in Detroit, MI, Public Pool in Hamtramck, MI, The Scarab Club in Detroit, MI, and SculptureCenter in Queens, NY, among others. To see other shows and art things I've participated in, see my CV.
I've created youth craft projects around recycled materials for the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (most recently for their Family Day Extravaganza), Ypsilanti Public Library, Hamtramck Neighborhood Arts Festival, Arts & Scraps, and others.
From 2006 to 2013, I co-organized the Shadow Art Fair with four of my friends in Ypsilanti, MI. The Shadow Art Fair was a juried, biannual local art fair that showcased the works of independent artists, designers, and publishers.
From 2004 to 2008, I managed Crafters for Critters, a self-created online fundraiser for animal rescue organizations, where independent artists donated handmade goods and artwork to sell in the online shop. Approximately $19,000 was raised during its four-year run.
TEACHING
I offer one-on-one screen printing lessons through Ocelot Print Shop (contact me if you're interested in learning more), and occasionally offer special workshops there, too. I like teaching screen printing because it's an empowering medium that encourages self-expression on an accessible and inclusive level.
IN MY FREE TIME
I love to sew – I have been sewing for over 20 years and it is my favorite hobby. I enjoy making clothing for myself and soft sculptures. In the early 2000s I ran my own apparel design business called Lekkner, where I created clothing and accessories out of secondhand t-shirts. This project landed me in Time Magazine in 2005, in an article about young women running their own craft businesses. These days I focus on sewing a lot of my own clothing, and occasionally contribute articles to the lovely online sewing magazine, Seamwork.