Art-making didn't click for me 'til after art school. I was an awful art student, couldn't bear the process and the assignments and the critiques, and made the best grades in all my non-art courses. But within a few months of graduating, I began churning out prints on my own time - in the traditional Japanese moku hanga style, by preference, with an occasional linocut. In 2007 I created my first etsy shop, formerly known as "fustian" (don't ask), and was thrilled by the experience of having actual people owning my art - not just because they were my mother, but because they wanted to!

My creative output has wound down since becoming a professional biologist, and my shop has shifted over to this new name, but I still love the process of putting my bird obsessions down on paper. It's not about the imagery, for me, but the science of and the love for wildlife. These days you'll more often find me out looking for nests or tracking down every Calochortus species I can, than inside carving away at cherry wood, but I find the two pursuits occasionally dovetail quite nicely. I hope my pieces can mirror your own obsessions & biophilia.