I have been drawing since I was a child, but I struggled with accepting the title of "Artist" until 2014, when a sudden and terrifying medical emergency almost took my husband from our family. Art was my way of coping, and expressing all of the unspeakable things that I was trying to process. Art is my gift from God, and it has become my assignment to share that gift with the world. I have found joy even in the scary things, and my art is a reflection of that joy.

 

As an art educator, I am speaking that joy into the lives of my students. I encourage, I honor and I respect their creative process. In return, I am given inspiration and ideas to use in my own art. I more often than not begin with a simple idea of an animal, a flower, an image that I want to draw.

 

My preferred medium to begin the process is Sharpie art pens, because they add a vibrancy and allow me to control the line and flow of the ink. Once the main image has been drawn in, the personality of that image will direct my next steps. Do I leave it as a drawing? Does it need more? I love adding splashes of color and pattern in unexpected ways to express the uniqueness and whimsy I feel while I create.