My earliest memories are from when I was 6 and a feral child living her winters in Pittsburgh and summers at her grandparents' camp. I spent my days either covered in mud or creating my next masterpiece. I wanted to be an artist after all! I colored, I cut, I glued, my seamstress gram even let me sew hair bows with her. Then the Day came! I finally had the opportunity to become a real artist with my first pottery class. After an episode of Mister Rogers where he struggled to learn how to throw a pot, I knew I had to prove my stuff. From that point on, I was obsessed. I continued my lessons and volunteered my time to teaching others until about 14 in high school when my love affair with painting started. I spent the next 4 years honing my skills with acrylic and watercolor preparing for college. At the University of Pittsburgh, I started my "formal" art training (while also studying premed and Italian Language). This is where I had the opportunity to explore many more medias such as; oil painting, drawing (pencil, charcoal, India ink), live figure drawing, photoshop, digital photography, black and white film photography, mold making, woodworking, metal working, etching, and screen printing. After college, I had a short stint as a photographer where I photographed a few weddings, senior pictures, family photos, etc. I kept painting and honing my skills while figuring out my style. My love for painting pet portraits, nature, and food evolved naturally. Technology developed, and of course I had to learn to draw digitally as well.  In that time, I inherited both of my grandmothers' thread collections and was guilted into teaching myself how to sew by my dear departed loved ones. (because I needed more time intensive hobbies!) As I was weaving the remnants from all the past projects of the tenacious women who came before me into a wardrobe that finally felt like me, I was entranced by the hum of the machine. The rhythmic press on the foot petal to sculpt my desired form reminded me of little 6-year-old Dominique, and I thought to myself, " Oh wait, wasn't I supposed to be a potter?" So, you guessed it, I'm completely obsessed with it all over again! Only this time I have an exhaustive list of other skills to help me accomplish all of Little Dominique's goals. Just don't expect me to stick with one media forever. I won't do it, you can't make me, I will pick up a new hobby every time you try! This just the beginning, there's a lot more journey to come and plenty of art to be made!

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