Meet Sophia

In a certain sense, beauty is the visible form of the good, just as the good is the metaphysical condition of beauty

– Letter Of His Holiness Pope John Paul II To Artists

A poet and artist inviting others to reexperience wonder, beauty, and the unadulterated joy found in those things like you once did when you were five and free of worry. Wonder should be alive in your life

What: With every medium and material I have access to, I show just how wonder exists in my life. I give a bit of my experience, my contemplation, and my joy into these works, asking you to experience the presence of beauty and the reality of good. I ask you to savor.
What: I write formal poetry and visual art ranging from short haikus made from fridge magnets to paintings almost 4 feet tall. In my poetry and my visual art, I explore every glimmer of an idea that catches my proverbial eye. I pull from any medium that interests me, and add any material I find exciting or reusable: paint, ink, and pencil, but also embroidery thread, old plastic from cheap picture frames, crushed makeup in my paint, and found textiles and objects. Often I build unusual materials on top of a very usual or traditional-style artwork, a watercolor or acrylic painting. Every medium and material is up for grabs, and my process of creation almost always includes atypical choices or odd turns. Fixations are entertained, tangents are followed to the end, chaotic inspiration is indulged. And mistakes are welcome turns of fate.

Why: I want to remind people of wonder. The earth and all its things are beautiful, and we as humans have the absolute blessing of being able to recognize and rest in beauty; even in pain, we find value, and as such wonder. Pope Saint John Paul II urged artists to call the world to this deep mystery of existence, and this is my contemplation, my cry of joy, my observation of and reverence to what is True and Beautiful and Good.

How: I approach poetry and visual art in the same way: I wait for a spark. Sparks, ideas either immediately flame into full projects ready to be actualized, or they remain embers. I leave those embers on the fire (my endless pile of scratch paper notes or poetry lines, the 93 notes on my iPhone, or the little red idea notebook with a sticker from a local coffee shop) until they’re ready to be stoked. Some projects are born and reach driving age in a night. Others may take the full 18 human years. But everything is stored, everything is kept warm, until it is ripe for plucking. I collect ideas, materials, techniques like a magpie searching for the shiniest objects–then they decorate my nest.

“Kalokgathia- beauty-goodness”, beauty as the visible form of the good, where the good is the metaphysical condition of beauty.

a poet, a painter, a follower of threads.
A student, a teacher, a learner
A daughter of Christ, an open heart
A garden-heart
A sweet fire

Glimpses of beauty
Moments of obsession
Trailing threads
Cultivating a garden of wonder
Simple beauty
Childlike playfulness and experimentation mixed with classical appreciation
Inspirations: patterns and textile, animation, music pop culture, high art, and God’s creation

I want people to smile
I want them to feel loved
I want them to be excited about observing beauty in the world around them
I want them to believe that life is a gift