Sliding into Home

My earliest memories include drawing with my sister in our attic bedroom. It was then I announced that I would grow up to be an artist. I was five years old. Later, in grade school, my teachers told me that my drawings were impressive, but I clearly put more effort into the illustrations than I did the stories. I put myself through college doing advertising work including calligraphy, illustration, and poster design for the campus bookstore. I graduated from Oregon State University with a bachelor’s degree in Art and Illustration. I was ready to show the world what I could do, but as many artists would tell you: our talents don’t always provide the most consistent income.
As a wife and mama, I found that working at a school allowed me to be on a similar yearly schedule to my children while providing insurance and a consistent income. It wasn’t what I’d always imagined doing, but it did provide opportunities for me to be inspired by the students and teach art classes. In fact some of my first art students were my own children, who all grew to be talented artists themselves.
Eventually my art opportunities extended to teaching adult painting classes. I knew it would be a fun adventure, but I could never have anticipated just how fulfilling and life changing it would be. I feel as if I’d finally come home!