For as long as I can remember I have loved art. As a young child I was exposed to art in many forms; my Mom was an artist and my brother and I were constantly given “artsy” things to play with, from paper and pencil to lumps of clay, beads, paints, and more. Time spent with my paternal grandparents exposed me to art even more as my grandfather had a ceramics studio in his garage and my grandmother painted and did decoupage.

As I grew up I constantly created things and accumulated a large quantity of craft supplies and a diverse set of skills, and while I dreamed of being an artist full time, my path led me in a bit of a different direction. Through my college years I worked as a barista and practically lived in the ceramics studio, sure that ceramics was my calling. I spent an entire semester firing the Raku kilns and mixing glazes. I completed all of the ceramics coursework and went on to do independent study and then work as a teacher’s assistant in the studio. All the while I also worked in my family’s business and when we decided to open a retail store I left the coffee house life and focused on the “art” of display, merchandising and customer service.. In time we added an art gallery to our store and I worked as the gallery manager in addition to the store manager. My semesters of art and gallery classes came in handy but it still wasn’t my passion.

A few years later we added home furnishings to our inventory that we approached from a unique perspective. We refinished old furniture to give it new life, and I began teaching faux painting and pique assiette. (mosaics) classes through the community college, all the while keeping my toe in the creative pool by continuing to create art at home. During these later years in retail I became obsessed with beading, and I created jewelry in addition to dolls and other things. Then, about six years ago I stumbled from there into mixed media and it wasn’t long before everything clicked! I had FOUND my passion, and all those years of dabbling and collecting bits and pieces started to make sense. I have been creating mixed media art for the past few years: swapping art, challenging myself with new projects, and trying to connect with other like-minded souls. My work has been published in Somerset Studio, Cloth Paper Scissors, Belle Armoire, and will appear in an upcoming issue of Somerset Gallery.

About two years ago I began using Adobe Photoshop® in earnest. I finally conquered the block that said I couldn’t use such a sophisticated program and began playing. I started creating blog banners for my blog and for friends and last year an Internet friend urged me to offer my services for hire. I finally had the confidence to charge for my work, and I began with creating banners for other folks. This past year I jumped in with both feet and have begun designing full corporate identities for clients. I am thankful to have the opportunity to stay at home with my daughter and continue to work closely with fellow “like minded” individuals to help them create beautiful looks for their businesses and blogs. Like many other artists I have too many ideas for the time in a day. I hope to be able to explore these avenues and share them all here.