The 19th
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The 19th is a place I want to be a part of. I have an innate drive to help visualize stories, and I thrive in an editorial environment. How information is presented matters deeply to me. I light up when a great story comes to life through great visuals. The 19th's mission to center women, LGBTQ+ people and other underserved communities aligns closely with my own values, and I hope that comes through in the work below.
My visual identity stems from a traditional background in painting and drawing. Growing up, I made whatever I wanted without sticking to any one style. I used to see that as a weakness, but I've turned it into one of my greatest strengths. I can shape my work to match whatever tone a story needs, whether that means directing a photographer or illustrating the image myself. That adaptability has made a real difference when building packages as part of a team.
WORK AT THE LAS VEGAS WEEKLY MAGAZINE
The bulk of my editorial experience comes from eight and a half years at the Las Vegas Weekly. The magazine covered the city's arts, entertainment and news, with a real commitment to spotlighting BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. As a weekly magazine, quick turnarounds on graphic work were imperative. I started as a graphic designer and worked my way up to senior designer. In that time, I created thousands of editorial images: photo manipulation, digital illustration, photography & illustrative direction, hand-crafted pieces and typographic design. I also laid out pages for hundreds of stories.
VISUAL IDENTITY
Oct. 1, 2017 is considered to be the most tragic day in Las Vegas history. It was a day that the largest mass shooting occurred in recent US history. 59 people were gunned down at the Route 91 music festival.
This event happened on a Sunday night, our magazine prints on Tuesday morning. We had already created an issue with a cover story with several pages. That had to be put on hold for now. I was tasked to paint a unifying image to replace the previous story while the writers wrote stories about Strip unity, resilience, tributes and mourning . There were several iterations of this image before I landed on this final piece.
RAPID-TURNAROUND
This was one of my first projects after joining the team. I digitally illustrated the cover and the art running through the pages, working closely with writers on each image to make sure what I was creating matched what they were building. As I took on more developed, multi-part projects like this, that collaboration became even more essential, since a single misread image early on could throw off the visual thread for an entire package. I learned to check in early and often, sketching concepts before committing to a final illustration, so the writer and I were always building the same story from two directions at once.
MORE DEVELOPED PROJECT
The obvious image is rarely the right one for stories with sensitive topics and no clear subject. Often, there wasn't an existing image to use at all. My role was to create visuals for stories that were complex, with no clear visual path laid out. I cherished those assignments because they asked me to create from feeling. Below is a mix of work: stories where I manipulated stock, Associated Press and staff photos into something new, and layouts built from photos I directed.
EDITORIAL ILLUSTRATIONS
As much as I love illustrating myself, I also love finding and working with other artists. I would find artists through Workbook, social media, or a friend of a friend. After getting approval to hire the freelancer I would work in tandem with the illustrator. I would present their rough draft options to the writers and editor for approval. Then I would work check in periodically as the image was created to make sure we were still on the right track. Below are a few of the artists I’ve hired. From left: Robert Nuebecker, Sally Comport, Poked Studio
ART DIRECTION FOR ILLUSTRATIONS
ACCOLADES
Awards I’ve won while at Las Vegas Weekly
Nevada Press Foundation
2023 Outstanding Graphic Designer
2019 Best Graphic Designer
Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
2025 Editorial Layout/First Place
2024, 2019 Editorial Layout/Third Place
2018 Cover Design/First Place
Best of the West Journalism Contest
2020 Best Page Design/Second Place
The Mob Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and was awarded national accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums in 2017. The building was originally Las Vegas's first post office, then a courthouse, before becoming the Mob Museum. It focuses on the country's mob history and law enforcement, and the relationship between them. Among my many tasks there, one is creating visuals for monthly event programming: speakers come to the museum's courthouse, once an active courtroom, to share their stories in front of a live audience. These events are recorded and later published online. Below are examples of the programming art I created, which end up on displays throughout the museum, in eblasts, on social media, and in print.
WORK AT THE MOB MUSEUM
Lastly, I have spent my entire life dedicated to the craft. Some of these works are deeply personal and were never intended to be marketed or sold. They have been exhibited over the years in both solo and group shows. Created with traditional media, these pieces are most often painted in oil and reflect a more intimate side of my practice.
PERSONAL WORK
