I've always been a creative person and had a natural talent for art based hobbies, but this interest never really developed until I went to college. I had originally started at Kutztown University with the idea that I wanted to be an art teacher, but this changed as soon as I had my first taste of a wood design class and fine metals course. From then on I knew that I found what I was really meant to do with myself. I graduated from Kutztown with a degree in crafts with a concentration in furniture design, but throughout my four and a half years I had also taken plenty of fine metals courses. So I'd say I came away with a very proficient knowledge in both areas.
After graduation I set up a small metals workbench in the basement of my Dads house, I dabbled with making "normal" jewelry and even threw around the idea that I'd get into making off-beat bride type jewelry for weddings after going to a few wedding expos with friends. But within this same timeframe I started going to anime, video game, and comic conventions and saw that there was a real lack of fine craft type items. This pushed me to finally get into what I'm doing and loving to do now, making items that I like and that interest me.
I draw inspiration from all sorts of different fandoms, video games, comics, tv series, movies, etc.
Google Photos Portfolio: https://goo.gl/photos/L7cytUbCzXCAtSQf6
You can also follow me on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/nextlevelcrafts/