My Art Story

The print that started it all, “Mother Eve.” She features a fig leaf dress.

She was powerful, not because she wasn't scared but because she went on so strongly, despite the fear. -Atticus

I went to college to major in art and then stopped making it when I graduated.

Somewhere along the way, I became self-conscious. I grew up drawing and painting. My parents would often get me art supplies for birthdays and holidays. I would often sit up in my room quietly working out my emotions through poetry and art. I loved art so much, I took every class I could in high school and then applied to the art program in college. My series of art was based on expressing human emotion and I was elated when I got into the program.

Art school wasn’t exactly what I expected. I felt lost when it came to the subject matter and a lot of the exercises I did, while useful, were often just copying other artists’ work or drawing very uninteresting rocks. I loved drawing people but I had a professor once say that I would never make money creating portraits. So I stopped painting the figure. By the time I graduated, I was bored and uninspired. I felt like I had lost my direction and passion for creating so I allowed art to fade out of my life.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to create, it was that I no longer knew what to paint and whatever I might paint was not going to be good enough to share. My art supplies collected dust while I did more “practical” things with my time like working full-time as a special education teacher at the local elementary school. There were times when I would just weep because I wanted to paint again, but didn’t know where to start. I felt frozen with fear and anxiety. My spouse Noah would always console me and encouraged me by telling me that I just needed to start. He suggested I try creating something without judgment.

So I started a project painting a tiny watercolor each day for a year. Some were good and some were not so good, but I was finally creating again.

Shortly thereafter, we moved from Chicago to Florida and I decided I didn’t want to do “practical” things, I wanted to make art. I tried for a year but became afraid that I wouldn’t be able to make it when I didn’t see success right away. I decided I could do art on the side and began working full-time at a local school again. It was a mistake. My mental and physical health suffered. I began getting migraines every weekend when I would want to be painting. I was too tired to spend time in the studio. After working for two years I decided that I needed to face my fears and embrace making art full-time. In March of 2022; I quit my job and swore to myself that I wouldn’t go back.

It’s been 8 months since that day. I am grateful every day that I am here conquering my fear of being successful at something I’ve always loved. I’ve found that I can combine my love of nature, color, and the female figure to express myself. And now I get the opportunity to connect with you.