I’ve always been drawn to making things with my hands, but leather found me somewhere along the way, and I never quite let it go.

What began as a love for the material has grown into a creative practice shaped by decades of art, design, photography, and a lifelong fascination with the things that make a place feel like somewhere you want to stay awhile.

I studied black-and-white photography in Orlando, earned a degree in Display & Exhibit Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and later received a BFA in Graphic Design from Georgia Southern University. Each chapter…and the artists, friends, and creative communities I’ve encountered along the way…has influenced how I see, make, and put things together.

Today, I design and make leather goods under the name 1974, working primarily with vegetable-tanned leather and creating my own designs rather than following a prescribed pattern or formula. I am interested in the space where usefulness and art meet: pieces that are made to be used, but still feel distinctly their own.

My creative life has taken another turn, too. After two years of studying wine, I became a Certified Sommelier in 2025. It’s another thread in a life that has always been a little difficult to put into one neat category.

And maybe that’s the point.

I imagine 1974 growing into a physical space someday…a working studio and gathering place where leather, wine, art, and beyond meld with good conversation and community. A place with something to discover, something to drink, and nowhere you particularly need to rush off to.

For now, 1974 is still taking shape here, from my hands to yours.