Born in Long Beach, CA, Stephanie spent early childhood moments watching Disneyland fireworks from her living room window, body-surfing alongside dolphins, and learning early lessons about light, time, and endurance (often the hard way, via saltwater, sand, and lost bathing suits). Raised by a mother who taught her embroidery before kindergarten, Stephanie gravitated toward making things with rules: lining up crayons so each color got a turn, refusing to let the same color touch itself, and quietly inventing systems long before she knew that “process” was a thing artists could learn from books or school. Craft, chance, repetition, and observation, especially of everyday rituals, took root early and never really let go.
After graduating high school and attending community college, Stephanie impulsively turned a two-week visit to New York into a decade-long new chapter of her life. There, she added knitting to her skill set which led to becoming assistant knit and crochet editor at McCall’s Needlework & Crafts, before going freelance to design garments and patterns for national magazines and yarn companies.
THE ARTIST
Documenting her own clothing in a daily drawing evolved into an ongoing outfit-documentation ritual that she continues to this day on Instagram (scroll to the bototm of this page images). Moves to Seattle and later back to California brought motherhood, divorce,, a return to sewing, and new chance at love with her current husband, Mike. Stephanie earned her BA in Theatre Arts with a minor in art at Fresno State, working in the university scenic and costume shops as a student, and ultimately spending the 18 years that followed graduation as a full-time costume shop professional, designing shows, mentoring students, and quietly teaching much of the mid-Central Valley’s drama-teacher population how to sew.
Stephanie eventually sought out a master’s degree in art history, developing her pedagogy and becoming a painter, gravitating towards small brushes and small marks rooted in her lifelong experience with the small movements of the hand in needlework and garment rendering.
Over the past decade, Stephanie has focused on teaching at the same university where she earned her degrees, and is moving towards making her art practice the primary focus. She is grateful to maintain an at-home studio practice. Working from images of familiar people, places, and things, Stephanie prefers to build images through tracing, projection, and close attention to shadow and color, favoring full-figure compositions and small, deliberate gestures. , In 2023, she added digital drawings realized as Giclee prints to her practice. Drawing on an iPadin the evenings, while watching basketball games or a tv series with her husband, and it reminds her very much of the days she half sat/half knelt on the rust shag carpet of her family den as a child.
Stephanie is eager to share her art history informed work through exhibitions, lectures, and workshops, and welcomes inquiries about commissions, collaborations, or her Everyday Life project proposals. Please reach out to book Stephanie, inquire about commissions, or ask any questions.
For more information on Stephanie’s “Everyday Life” project proposals, go here.
Stephanie’s Full CV.
Artist Statement for previous series Looking Forward Looking Back.
