The Early Years
I have been making things with my hands for as long as I can remember. I enjoyed making crafts in Girl Scouts, and art class was always my favorite period at school. I loved it so much I even signed up for art classes in the summer, when most kids were happy to have a break from anything school related.
I’m an only child, so a lot of my childhood was spent entertaining myself, and making things was how I did it. Drawing, journaling, making friendship bracelets. If there were supplies within reach, I was using them for something.
Becoming A Mother
That thread never really went away. Before I was in digital marketing, I was a stay-at-home mom and part-time preschool teacher, and those years were full of crafts and art projects, just in a different form. Glue and glitter and finger paint instead of watercolor, but the same instinct to make something with my hands and encourage others to enjoy art.
These days the making shows up as Cricut projects for the people I love. A custom t-shirt for a friend, a handmade greeting card instead of a store bought one, little gifts that say I made this for you specifically. I also crochet and occasionally sew, so between all of that there has usually been some kind of project going in my house.
Becoming An Empty Nester
Now it’s just my husband Jimmy, our beagle-mix Lanie, and me at home. Our kids are grown and out of the house, so we’re empty nesters now, and if I’m being honest, that has been a bigger shift than I expected. Add in perimenopause, and last year I found myself with more time on my hands and a lot more going on in my head than I was used to.
Watercolor is what I turned to. In December I sat down to make a few Christmas cards, just something simple and homemade for family. I mixed my first colors, watched them bleed into the wet paper in a way I couldn’t fully control, and I was hooked before the first card was even dry. I have painted almost every day since.
Discovering Art
Part of what pulled me in is what I do for work. I’m in digital marketing, which means my days are full of screens, meetings, and more screens. Art is the opposite of all of that. There is no blue light, no notifications, just color and paper and calm.
Since December I’ve branched out into acrylic, mixed media, collage, and gelli printing too, because it turns out once you fall for one messy, colorful hobby, it is easy to fall for several more. I’m still learning something new with almost every project, and I love that part of it as much as the finished piece.
Outside of Art
Outside of the art table, I love animals and spending time outside. I have a house full of plants, a few feeders in the yard, and I could watch the birds that visit them for hours. Nature has a way of ending up in my paintings whether I plan it or not, plants, creatures, the way light hits water.
Follow My Art Journey
This site is where I share what I’m painting, what I’m trying, what supplies and courses are actually worth your time, and the artists who inspire me along the way. If you loved crafting as a kid, if you need something to do with your hands that isn’t a screen, or if you just want to see what a little color and texture can do, follow along on my art journey.
