Born in San Jose, California, I left before my first birthday to find my fame and fortune in the Big Apple—I’m still waiting. Being the oldest of four children and moving around every few years, I found it hard to make long-time friends, so I would spend most of my time by myself drawing with a pencil and sketch pad. I never really had the confidence to show my work. Even with the encouragement of family and teachers, I was still insecure, so I abandoned the thought of ever becoming an artist.
I worked for many years at various unfulfilling jobs in the customer service field, until I felt the need for some sort of change and touched down in Arizona in August of 1995—the thermometer read 117 degrees—so, I was crazy then too. Shortly after arriving I met my partner Craig and we have been together ever since.
Fast forward nineteen years and I found myself unemployed with no desire to continue in those still unfulfilling fields. I would stay up late surfing the web and came across a site with papier maché. Although I’d never dabbled in this medium, after seeing the prices they were asking, I thought that I could do this. My own personal twist was to incorporate recycled materials—being green, you know.
As each sculpture I made sold, I decided to try and sell them on my own website. Trying to get a web address that I liked—and that was not already taken—was a long and frustrating process. I do most of my creating late at night and often Craig would wonder to whom I was talking. Of course it was to the sculptures that all had opinions on the direction they wanted to take towards completion. Since I am left handed and slightly crazy, Left Hand Asylum was born. The tag line ‘Mixed media art creations from the Madhouse’ encompasses the many different media I work in and doesn't pigeon-hole me.
My smaller pieces came about because my best friend KC suggested that I come up with some things to sell at an event she was attending. Since my sculptures tend to be time consuming I bought a block of clay and decided to make magnets, then branched out into ornaments. I started with cats, skulls and zombies, but my product line has grown to include southwestern style items, sci-fi fan art, as well as visual puns and parody.
My first craft show was in September 2012, and I have logged many shows since then.
Though it has not been an easy road, I have added many new people to my extended family. My website is always being improved and offers a monthly newsletter, The Prescription Pad.
I moved everything to Etsy and kept my website, www.lefthandasylum.com to allow people to see past works of mine that have sold, pictures of sculptures in the works and an event calendar. I also have a facebook page too, www.facebook.com/LeftHandAsylum
I am fortunate to be doing something I love, though the hours tend to be longer than your typical mainstream job and I rarely have a day off but I have never been happier.