ORIGINS

Growing up in rural Texas, I shared a small ecosystem with my parents and older brothers, and anytime more family visited, I'd get relegated to our living room sofa. And family came over all the time.

Whenever I collected a new treasure—whether unique looking rocks and shells unearthed from outside, my favorite deck of playing cards, a mood ring, or my beloved stuffed animal appropriately named Brown Bear—I would neatly line up my treasures around the perimeter of our family sofa, like a shrine to my own joy-filled imagination. In my childlike estimation, it was all pretty good stuff.  Today, I have a home, a family, a dog, a cat, and a much larger sofa—but I've never stopped finding beauty in the small things. Anything can be treasure. And one person's trash is another person's sofa shrine.