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Painting has always been one of my greatest passions. Growing up, I took every art class I could. I had planned on going to college to study art, but even with scholarship money I was still short $10,000. Shortly after starting school I had an epiphany: I realized I didn’t need to go to college to be an artist. I dropped out and started working for my dad, a contractor, painting houses to save money.
A year later, with some money in the bank and a few newly acquired skills—like painting with both hands—I decided to leave Chicago and move to Los Angeles to pursue art and escape the cold. When I got to L.A., I started modeling on the side as a way to make money.
Eight years later I’m still busy modeling and making art, and I love it: Both fields allow me to be creative and express myself. When I’m painting, I definitely channel my emotions into my work. Some days I’ll just play around with colors and make what I like to call “hotel art,” and other days painting just tugs all my emotions out of me and onto the canvas. It’s like my brain can’t work until I get it all out there.
Painting during quarantine has been a godsend. I live with four boys (and grew up with five younger siblings), so I really enjoy my alone time. Don’t get me wrong—I’m the daughter of a psychologist and a contractor, so I definitely have the talkative gene!
Another escape of mine is reading. During quarantine I’ve been averaging a book a day. I usually alternate between classics and sci-fi to get my fix. I recently read Jane Eyre, Galaxy’s Edge and The Count of Monte Cristo. What else? Lots of cleaning and redecorating and finding perfect places for things…over and over again.
As a model I’m used to being busy all week with photo shoots and castings. So in some ways, the quarantine has really changed things for me—I have a lot of time on my hands. But in other ways, modeling prepared me for this since my normal everyday schedule is to not have an everyday schedule. I miss being out and about, but I’m making the most of my time.