I am a self-taught artist, my only formal training being a few classes in college and whatever tips and techniques I can remember from high school. I did not go to college until my late-twenties and I initially enrolled as an art major but switched to history after my first year. I have worked in the education field for the last ten years and am currently a high school special educator and social studies teacher. I co-owned a dance fitness studio several years ago but walked away from that venture to focus more on my career and family. In addition to my career and art business, I am the wife to a wonderfully supportive husband, mother and step-mother to two absolutely lovely daughters, and grandmother to two adorably yummy little granddaughters. It was always my dream to make art my career field but instead I settled on my second passion as a safer option and one that would guarantee me employment. There is a small part of me that wishes I could make the shift from teaching social studies to teaching art but I have decided to commit myself, instead, to pursuing an independent art business. Although I am proficient with a variety of mediums and subjects, I specialize in portrait work with colored and graphite pencils being my medium of choice. You can visit my GALLERY to view samples of some of my art and read more about my journey HERE.
Cancer…Been There, Beat That
My daughter was only one when I was diagnosed with cancer. I remember everything about that day...my outfit, my shoes, where I was at work when I received the phone call, leaving work early to pick up X-rays, the doctor's office, his desk, my mom, and his sad and hopeless delivery of the news...I had a mass on my kidney that was, well....MASSIVE. The initial diagnosis...a tumor on my kidney,[...]
Guess who’s BACK
It has been more than a year since I posted a blog but I'm BACK! I apologize for "disappearing" and have let you, and myself, down but I have been busy BEYOND belief. I feel like I've been on the grind nonstop, trying to MAKE art, trying to SELL art, trying to figure out HOW to sell art, trying to improve my social media presence...the list goes on. The difficult[...]
The Little Tin Boat That Would Not Sink
THE LITTLE TIN BOAT THAT WOULD NOT SINK It Came in Bits and Pieces... My Grandpa's first official story. A story about high school graduation trip he took with a few friends, a trip to catch a few fish at Yellowstone Lake, a trip that nearly ended in disaster. A story he told me via text over about a week and a haIf. If you didn't catch the prologue to this story,[...]
