“You’re creative, you’ll probably do something cool.”

And if it wasn’t already, from that moment the pressure was on.

At first I thought I’ll make something (emphasis on singular ‘thing’) and hang it in a gallery. How cool would that be to tour an art gallery and stumble across a custom piece? But then I called Storm King and tried convincing them to let me plop a huge sculpture on their land for a day. After some hard negotiating they politely declined. Then the MET and the MOMA ghosted me.

So I thought, “OK, well I still like this art gallery idea, so I guess I’ll just make my own.”

"Start the Stopwatch" - painted acrylic, wood, encasing a lightbulb

"Five Towns Tax" - 1999 Toyota Corolla hubcap

"First Date Jitters" - hand-painted on white panel

"Punkin Lunkin" - hand-painted on white panel

"Just Lean into It" - laser-cut, hand-painted & assembled

"You're My Favorite Color" - colored acrylic panels on hand-built wooden sliders with a light behind - when moved to overlap, the panels shine purple

"F*** the Belt Parkway" - hand-painted on white panel

"Relics" - two jars from 'Wonderspaces' in Philadelphia

"Punim" - mahogany wooden blocks, CNC etched (v-bit) and painted

"Her Happy Place" - hand-painted on white panel

"High Praise", "The Simple Things", "Drink My Pee, Chowdhury" - screenshot, AI images, a parking ticket

"Hu U Looking At" - chocolate bars on a white panel

"Lil' Harold" - cardboard, wood, and paper - hand-built and hand-painted, suspended from the ceiling by fishing line

[Redacted] - slow-cured plaster, carved on a CNC router, hand-painted

"Good Intentions" - iron-on letters, suspended from nails by fishing line

"The Girl with the Faces" - a gift, hand-drawn by Nicole

"Solar-Powered Love" - hand-painted on white panel

"Floppy" - wood mosaic, laser cut and hand-painted

"Heart on My Sleeve" - hand-drawn sketches, ironed onto t-shirts

"Reminiscence" - 6" x 6" white ceramic tiles, painted black and laser-etched through the paint, displayed on hand-built wooden frame

"Possibilities" - blank 6" x 6" white ceramic tiles on a hand-built wooden frame

"Cherished" - hand-painted, enlarged recreation of a note left in my notebook, on white panel

"The First Slide" - print on panel, final text bubble peels away to reveal a hidden message

" " - laser-cut wooden box with flush-fit drawer, painted white, drawer pulls out to reveal the ring box

Peonies flowers placed throughout in tiny vases

My favorite part: after I proposed, our families came by and Nicole gave them a tour of the gallery.

I didn’t think about how I probably set the bar pretty high for myself on this one. For our 10th anniversary I’ll take her to space or something... A problem for future me.

(If you have connections to mentorship in glass blowing or ice sculpting please reach out)