See my artwork in person at: Canby Massage Co-Op
I am an artist harnessing adhd
About Me
Most mornings, the view from my front gate includes Mt. Hood — sometimes sharp and unmistakable, sometimes softened by clouds, weather, or distance. I’ve come to think of this as a useful metaphor for how I move through the world and my work.
I am an artist with ADHD. For me, this doesn’t show up as constant chaos or boundless energy, but as a heightened sensitivity to environment, pattern, and change — along with a tendency for my attention to wander, deepen, or scatter depending on context. Some days the mountain is clear. Other days, it’s there whether I can see it or not.
Art has become one of the ways I work with this nervous system rather than against it. When the rubber hits the road, ADHD means I need rhythms that allow for immersion, flexibility, and return. I work intuitively, often moving between focus and diffusion, structure and looseness. (In other words, I’ve learned to stop asking my brain to behave like a spreadsheet.)
Watercolor, ink, and mixed media suit this way of working — they reward attention, but also invite release. Rather than forcing productivity or precision, I’ve learned to notice what helps me settle, stay curious, and keep going.
Over time, this has shaped not only how I make art, but what kind of art I make: work that values atmosphere over control, process over perfection, and presence over performance. I’m less interested in getting it “right” than in staying in relationship with the work long enough for something honest to emerge.
That voice in your head
Most people have a voice in their head that narrates, questions, critiques, or second-guesses. Mine can be particularly articulate — and occasionally convinced it’s being helpful.
Over the years, I’ve learned that this voice isn’t something to silence or defeat. It’s information. Sometimes it’s fear trying to keep me safe. Sometimes it’s old learning. Sometimes it’s just background static.
Art gives me a way to respond without arguing. When my hands are busy and my attention is engaged, the voice tends to soften. Not because it disappears, but because it’s no longer running the meeting.
I don’t aim for quiet so much as company — a way of working where that voice can come along without needing to steer.
Sometimes, drawing the eyebrows helps make the ideas stick-- see my blog for more
These drawings emerged from my counseling studies as a way of learning through attention rather than memorization. By drawing the thinkers themselves, their ideas began to feel more present and accessible — not as information to hold, but as something to stay with.
This tree illustrated connectedness and integration - As above, so below, as the body, goes the soul.
Erikson developed the Stages of Human Development - I especially like that his stages go all the way up through late adulthood. (Most of the other developmental theories stop in early adulthood). He also discussed microgenisis - human development can be reactivated, identity can shift in moments of crisis, and earlier stages can re-emerge under stress.
Jung developed Analytical Psychology. He feels like home to me theoretically. He focused on the collective unconscious, archetypes, individuation, and personality types (think Myers Briggs) - to understand the whole person - taking his ideas beyond Freud to include spiritual and universal human patterns.
Konrad Lorenz - Nobel Prize recipient..... This guy is awesome. He studied how goslings imprint after hatching, establishing critical periods for learning and innate behaviors. Helped establish ethology: the scientific study of animal behavior in natural settings
Piaget wins the award for the cutest theorist. He was responsible for the Theory of Cognitive Development - focusing on how children learn, reason, and understand concepts like language, memory and morals.
I had to draw this one of Kegan from what looks like a 1990's photoshoot (I could be wrong though) - I like the playfulness it invokes
(click on + Show More below for more of my drawings of theorists and their descriptions)
Show More