The Next Story
I have been a professional artist for a little over two decades. That seems almost impossible to write, but it is true. I started out teaching art to middle and high school students where I began an art club. Imagine my surprise to find that at least two of those special art students would grow up to purchase art from me. I'm talking to you, Emily and Becky!
One day, I invited a professional mural painter to speak to our art club. My goal was to inspire them to imagine a paying career in the art world and to reject the "starving artist" myth. Little did I know, that I would also be inspired. After all the kids left, the mural painter and I talked for another two hours. This is when I decided to stay home with my first born and start a mural business. My first big job was painting a fish mural in our pediatrician's office. That led to many other mural jobs which kept me busy for the next two years. While pregnant with our second child, I finished my last mural and decided that the next chapter in my story would be about me becoming the artist I truly wanted to be.
The next decade was filled with experimenting and finding my true voice through color and texture. I showed my art in every coffee house, bar, little and big gallery I could find. I joined art organizations and met so many fellow artists working hard to follow their dreams too. I opened a gallery/studio with my mom who was selling a texture product called Wood Icing (that I used in my paintings). I traveled the midwest participating in many big and small art fairs (some of the best in the country). I have still never counted all the paintings I have sold, It has been such an honor to create something from nothing and then have people choose to live with it in their homes and offices.
When covid hit, I decided to make a concerted effort in learning how to sell my art online. Selling in person disappeared for us, and stopping creating was not an option for me. I think I would go a little crazy if I couldn't keep making art. After being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, I decided it was time to (mostly) retire from art fairs, but I can't retire from art making. It is an integral part of who I am.
The next story is currently being written. It will involve color and texture and an openness to creativity and inspiration. I don't plan to skip to the last page yet, so please come along with me as my creative life evolves, yet again!