I built my creative life the same way I build everything: instinct first, rules later.

It started in the 1980s — in front of the camera, shooting editorial campaigns across Europe and Tokyo. Fashion wasn’t just image; it was composition, color, and attitude — and it sharpened my eye for beauty with an edge.

After more than a decade living in New York City, absorbing its energy and chaos, I returned home to California. In Los Angeles, I founded Illume — long before candles and home fragrance became the fashion statements they are now. I didn’t just want to make products; I wanted to make things that meant something — objects with soul, crafted through scent, design, and story. We didn’t follow trends. We created them.

For over 30 years, I’ve been in the thick of it — working with both global brands and emerging names, consulting, developing, creating. Some projects are still confidential. Most have shaped the home fragrance and lifestyle world in ways you can feel but may never trace back to me. That’s by design.

A few years ago, at 56, I made another move — to a small town in Northern Italy. Not to escape, but to expand. To reconnect with color, texture, history — and to bring all those layers back into my work.

Today, my life and my work are the same: layered, textured, and unapologetically bold.
I paint. I design surface patterns. I create a growing home collection. I consult with brands ready to do something real — not just beautiful, but meaningful.

Because whether it’s a brushstroke, a textile, or a product on a shelf — the goal is the same:
Create something that leaves an impression.

Since beginning my painting journey I have had the incredible pleasure of:

Being chosen as a featured artist in the London Art Biennale

Having the honor to show at The Other Art Fair London

Participating in the UnFair Milano with Young Art Hunters

A solo show at Nassau 42 Fine Art in September of 2022 (with another group show coming up this summer 2023).

Group show at the YAH Factory Milano “Beneath The Surface” May 2023.

Having my work displayed in the headquarters of Nina Ricci, Paris and Ferrero Rocher, Luxembourg.

Being selected to have my work featured in Xetra stores in Bassano del Grappa and Ferrara, Italy.

Contributing to podcasts about what it is like to begin a new career in the art world and follow your dreams.