The Artist

In 2015 I met an artist working in Popotillo on the tourist-laiden streets of Cancun, Qintana Roo. Over the span of 5 minutes of observation and through the filter of a steep language barrier, I gleaned the absolute minimum information needed to research and study this craft.

After a year of intensive research and dead ends, I developed a means to make due with common broom corn. This was a sub-optimal material that could only be used on large scale pieces, and was notoriously brittle. It lacked the anisotropic depth of value and hue of the authentic popote de cambray.

It wasn't until 2019 that I was able to make a connection with an artisan in Mexico City who would sell the true popote de cambray to me. I've since redoubled my efforts and wish to master this art form so that I can in tirn teach others to keep this craft alive for future generations.

I'm a mostly self-taught artist, having grown up around artists and engineers who demystified the world of animation, illustration, artisan crafts, metal and wood working, and the fine arts. I began selling artwork to classmates in Elementary School and dabbled in the freelance art space in the many years since then.

I only spent one year at the Oakland School for the Arts in the Theater Design and Production department before being uprooted to Chicago. I moved to Utah for work and completed one year of College there before a lack of funding forced me to take a seemingly permenant hiatus.

I have a background in technology, having worked as a SysAdmin and in Datacenter Ops to pay the bills, and later married an electronics engineer specialized in Optics and low power circuits. We enjoy working on unusual projects together.

I do Popotillo in my (very limited) free time. Due to a spinal injury I sustained in a violent car crash in 2010 I have been limited by migraines and musculo-skeletal pain. I am only able to claim 2-3 hours a day at my easel.