I grew up on a small forested piece of land in Gem Lake, Minnesota and there began my relationship with the woods. I was a child with a lot of wanderlust, however, and the woods of Gem Lake couldn't keep me occupied forever. I traveled abroad for the first time when I was 14 which sparked a lifelong interest in cultures other than my own. Since then I've lived on every continent except Antarctica, earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in Anthropology, and have worked a myriad of odd jobs including but not limited to being a park ranger, viticulturist, mushroom grower, and fish processor. 

In 2016 I decided to travel to Japan for three months and work on a bamboo sustainability project run by Junpei Kanazashi. Junpei happened to also be a master at traditional Japanese papermaking. During my time in Japan, I learned the whole papermaking process, from harvesting the branches of the paper mulberry tree to drying sheets in the sun. Junpei's wife, Hiroko Kanazashi is equally as interesting and artistic, she grows and spins her own Japanese cotton and also teaches workshops on natural dye. I credit all of my natural dye and papermaking to this beginning, living with Junpei and Hiroko in Minamata. I returned to visit them once again in 2019, right before COVID, not realizing this would be the last traveling I would do in two years.

When COVID hit I moved back to Gem Lake with my parents and found myself with a vast amount of unemployed time on my hands. It was then that I learned punch needle. The literal groundedness of creating rugs enticed me and I finally had a reason to do my own natural dye projects. I decided I would always use only undyed or naturally dyed yarns in my work. Foraging for plant material got me outside and allowed me to form a new type of relationship with the land I had grown up on. I began learning the names and color properties of local plants. In a time of quarantine and isolation, I found communion with the plant world. I also began papermaking at this time, and realized I could use plant scraps from my dye pots to make all sorts of oddly textured papers. 

My work is intentionally place-based. My rugs take on the qualities of the lands they were designed in. In 2021 I traveled to Tahiti to visit friends from my time as an anthropologist in the Marquesas. There, we gathered local plants together and some of my friends designed small table mats that I then made for them with our specially dyed yarn. I love the idea of combining my love of environmental anthropology with my love of crafting. Many cultures around the world hold local knowledge about plant dyes. I hope to continue traveling to different landscapes to design quality rugs and table mats for those who have deeply rooted personal connections to those areas.