Looking back, the journey that led to this blog began when I was 3 years old.  When I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I didn’t give the standard 3-year-old answer of teacher, doctor, or veterinarian (although, a few years later, I considered two of those three to be among my possible future careers).  No, I had my whole life planned out.  I was going to be a stay-at-home artist; I was going to live with my parents forever and they were going to buy all of my paintings.  Let’s not worry about how they were going to pay for all of my paintings while continuing to house and feed me well into adulthood…

Fast-forward a few years and you would find me taking drawing classes and learning how to draw a horse, then taking art classes in middle school and learning all sorts of fun new techniques from Mr. Morin – everything from screen printing to carving print blocks.  In high school, I tried my hand at photography and spent some time in the school darkroom.  In college, I minored in art and studied everything from jewelry making and paper making to basic drawing techniques and photography.  A year or so into darkroom classes in college, I began to develop migraines from the chemicals and all but gave up on photography.  And then, digital cameras became available.  I was one of the early adopters of digital, beginning with my Canon Rebel and I never looked back.  

Eventually, I started a photography business, which gave me 10 wonderful years of making money doing what I loved.  And then, we moved.  We had lived in Oregon where there’s no sales tax, and starting a business takes practically zero effort or money.  But moving north to Washington, I quickly became overwhelmed with the prospect of moving to a place where we didn’t know anyone, with two small kids, no knowledge of how to start a business here, and no energy to put into starting over from scratch.  So, I put my camera away and got a “real job”, which I was able to turn into a job that I loved and I still had the chance to pull out my camera now and then.  And then, COVID happened.  In fact, as I write this, I am realizing that one year ago today (March 12), I was at work preparing to lay off, furlough, or reduce hours for 100% of our staff the next day, myself included.  Three months later, it became obvious that nothing was going to change any time soon, and my position was eliminated.  Since that time, I have rediscovered my love of art, although, it was never really lost.

Over the years, I have made intricate, custom cakes for our daughters’ birthdays, designed and decorated their rooms, made quilts, painted rocks, and tried my hand at so many other artistic endeavors.  My most recent projects have been bullet journaling and botanical drawing, which both came about in the last few months.

This is where I will share all the ways that art makes its way into my life, and how you can incorporate art into your life and home, as well.  Who would have thought that 37 years later, my 3-year-old self’s plan would finally come true?  Well, except for the part about living with my parents and them buying all of my art.  

I have a wonderful husband and two amazing daughters.  David and I met the first day of college, in August, 1999.  We began dating two months later, and were married in 2005.  Paige came along in 2010, just two days before my 29th birthday, and Ella followed in 2014, sharing a birthday with my sister.  We now live in Spokane, Washington, where David teaches music at the local community college, and is a professional jazz saxophonist.  He performs regularly (well, he did prior to COVID), composes music for publication, and has released multiple albums.  Paige and Ella love gymnastics, legos, and they both say their favorite subject in school is art.  As a family, we love to camp in our travel trailer and spend our summers frequenting Silverwood, a nearby theme park.