I don’t have much luck on Tinder, but I will try. I am a (recent) full-time artist living in Richmond, Virginia. Also, I’m a Virgo.

I lived in Richmond the longest, but I grew up all over the place: Maryland, Kentucky, North Carolina, and then Virginia. Excluding Maryland, they are all fairly southern places. Spending most of my time in Richmond was definitely a challenge for me, though. Making friends was difficult, coming to terms with my sexuality was difficult, but all of that fizzled out once I got to art school. I think my fondest childhood memory would have to be discovering art. I spent so much time alone that it was the one thing that really kept me busy.

Life experiences are my biggest inspiration: self-awareness, criticism, dating, mental health, culture, family. I try to be as honest as possible with my work, which can be emotionally exhausting, but I think since I started making art and going to therapy at the same time, I use them interchangeably. I don’t romanticize things so it’s easy for me to just recreate things that are happening to me in real-time.

I think I knew from a young age that I was going to be different. I never really imagined myself doing things that I saw my friends doing or even family members doing with their lives. It felt incredibly lonely, but I didn’t feel like I had another option. I don’t really have any other skills – I’m terrible at math and science, I have terrible short term memory, and I love doing things my way. I don’t think any of those things really foster a career in a large corporation.

I think I touched on this a little bit earlier, but the word I would use is honest. It’s not trying to convince you of anything, It’s my point of view, it’s my opinion, it’s subtle humor and sometimes obvious humor. I am extremely scattered in the work that I make, too. I work on one thing for months and months and then do something completely different, which I think sometimes goes against what Instagram has deemed 'acceptable' from an artist.

I really do not like social media. I think it’s incredibly damaging to everyone’s mental health. However, I am aware that it is the way the world currently operates. I don’t think it will be around forever or operate the way that it does now forever. As an artist, I am grateful that it has led to so many amazing opportunities and most of my collectors have come from Instagram – which is still so surprising to me. I think of it as a business card and people can look at it, lose it, whatever they want with it, it’s up to them.

The first cake was just plain with no writing. I had previously (about a year prior) worked on a series using the same phrases and ideas, so I just decided to write them on the cakes. It was a very natural pairing for me. I love to write text and being able to say exactly what I want, so I felt like this was a very easy way for me to get my ideas out clearly while still illustrating something less serious and cute.

I think gay culture will be one of the biggest puzzles of my life. I could really go on and on about it because there are just so many issues that need to be addressed. I think the biggest one is racism. There is so much blatant racism that men try to rationalize as a 'preference' but that does not make any sense. You don’t have to be attracted to everyone – that’s impossible – but if you are publicly stating your distaste for an entire group of people, that is unacceptable and there is no room for that.
Gay dating and culture feel so primitive (in our society, not in actuality) because I think we haven’t really been able to experience it freely in the way that heterosexual people have. Gay men come into relationships and into their own sexuality with baggage. Going back to social media for a moment, but honestly what could be a worse idea than trying to date on social media? In my experience, people have carte blanche to speak to you, ignore you, humiliate, and harass you in any way that they please.
This also deters gay people from being open to date. It also encourages people to settle for someone who may not be good for them because they might think, “this is the only option I have.” It’s really upsetting to me because the LGBTQ+ community deserves better and the options we currently have are not helping matters.

Definitely. I think it’s hard for some to discern whether or not I am being serious, which usually I am not. The topics I write about are serious, but the way that I phrase it on the cakes, not so much. Whenever I talk about masculinity is usually when I receive some pushback. People think I am not allowing people to be masculine or themselves or that I hate masculine gay men. That is not true at all, I have masculine gay friends but I think they have some work to do within our 'community.'

My work is very premeditated – so I often come to painting or drawing with a very clear idea in mind. I think about things over and over and continuously plan it in my head and then I paint or draw that thing. Sometimes I watch a show or a movie and sometimes it’s completely silent. I have been trying to get better at stepping back and actually looking at what it is I’m working on—I get too focused and forget to pause and look at any large issues in the piece that are happening. I also don’t pay attention to what colors are 'right'. I had a painting teacher in high school that told me, “If you see a color just put it there even if it doesn’t make sense” and I have been painting the same way ever since.

The highlight for me would be being able to support myself with my art, it’s been such an arduous journey to get to this point and I feel extremely lucky that I am able to do that. The worst moment would be to be reminded just how much work we still have to do as a country and as a population. I am skeptical to say we are moving in the right direction because there is so much to be done regarding race, the climate crisis, and hopefully Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will lead us into a better direction.

I’m not sure if everyone I mention identifies as queer, but I would definitely say: fashion designer Christopher John Rogers, and painters Will Cotton, and Michael Doyle.

I have been particularly drawn to interiors and just decorating in general so that has been my other quarantine hobby. Painting scenes of interiors has been so relaxing and an escape from my own surroundings. I also have a bigger project coming up in 2021 that I’m very excited about – I can’t share too many details yet, though.

I don’t want to jinx anything, but I would love for everyone to feel a sense of calm – however that happens. Personally, I want to continue to paint and enjoy what I am making.