Born in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1969, I spent my childhood in Wisconsin. I received my BA in Religious Studies from Lawrence University in 1991, and continued my studies at the University of Iowa, where I completed a Master's Degree in Religion in 1995. While my academic studies have centered on religious philosophy and narrative theory, my life experience is heavily steeped in literature, poetry, nature and art, and the connections between seemingly idiosyncratic things.

I have been making books and boxes in various forms since grade school, but took on the study of book craft in the late 1990s. I am grateful to all the mentors and teachers who have helped me along my way; primarily Julie Leonard, Larry Yerkes, Anna Embree, Gary Frost, Jim Croft and Shanna Leino.