Between Jr High and Freshman year is about the time I took to drawing people more deliberately. I'm starting with my old art, as I feel it's an essential part of my history as an artist, and that of my characters, and I'd really like to share myself with you.

Rift was not only a glorified persona created to explore fantasy with, but also a deliberate effort in learning to love myself as I am. I'm sure plenty can relate to being discontent with the body you were given, and it was something that depressed me in my youth and bubbled to the surface every time I saw emotional moments in films that portrayed likeable non-human characters.

Experience taught me that was not a safe subject to discuss with family, so it was a topic I explored with close friends. I had created non-human characters to explore ideas with, but while exploring that fantasy world, a thought occurred to me. What if that world was real, but I could only experience it in the body I have now? How could these wonderful characters love me, if I didn't? In that moment, I decided to work on loving myself as I am, and I've grown to be allot happier and healthier as a result of achieving that goal.