a bit about me + where i come from
*Update* This post was written in 2017. I am NO LONGER 26 weeks pregnant. Instead, I have a happy 18 month old keeping me company and running amuck in the studio.
Hello! I'm so happy you have stumbled upon this post!
I started this website in 2016 as a way to motivate myself and really focus on sharing my art. Then, it sat, hardly touched for many months. I like to PAINT, not design websites. That being said, I find myself sitting inside on a rare rainy day here in Needles, Ca, stuck on the couch with some 26 week pregnant aches and pains, feeling the odd desire to write. I thought maybe I'd write up a short version of my life story. That way, if you are interested, maybe it will help you see why I do what I do and connect with me and my paintings a little more.
I started creating things early in life. My parents are both artists. Each in their own unique ways. I have an immensely talented mom who has taken her business prowess, creativity, and love for the beach and built a career for herself. On top of that, she and my dad have a tourism business and have used their talents and knowledge to renovate & rebuild nearly every house they lived in. All my life, I’ve watched them take dilapidated shacks and turn them into livable works of art. I don’t know if there are more hard working, creative people on the planet and seeing how they merged their work life with the things and places they loved definitely gave me something to aspire to.
As a family, we traveled all over Mexico for my parents tourism business. The beautiful beaches and sunsets, the warm weather, the food, the culture and bright colors, even the occasional museum or gallery visit, all of these things really impressed me aesthetically and struck a creative chord in me that wouldn’t truly manifest itself for quite awhile
Traveling.
Although I've always sketched and painted here and there, I didn’t take it seriously enough to learn the technical aspects until in 2013. I decided to break up the 9-5 job routine with a drawing class "just for fun" and really enjoyed it. After just one semester, I started painting a little every day and haven’t really stopped since.
Fast forward a couple years and I REALLY started to catch the painting bug. After relocating to California and enduring a loss, I found myself painting more and more. It was therapeutic. It was a way to focus on something simple and pretty. I had painted a few watercolors and sent them to my mom. She ended up featuring them in an arts and crafts show that she put together in Rocky Point, Mexico, and to my amazement they sold. It seemed people were enjoying my little beachy watercolor scenes and so I kept on painting. I was given some books about oil painting and some supplies so I started trying to teach myself the tricks of the trade and fell in love. The feeling of accomplishment over a finished piece, the happiness when someone says they have the perfect spot in their home for a one of my paintings, it all just added to the feeling that THIS is what I want to do!
In June of 2016 I left my full time job in electrical manufacturing and decided to give it a go with my art. Its been a learning process with plenty of ups and downs. To say I was naive would be an understatement. Its not always singing and dancing and creative inspiration in the studio. Sometimes I'm uninspired and overwhelmed. Sometimes I make the mistake of comparing myself to the "pros" and bum myself out. Sometimes I miss the consistent pay check that came with a full time job. Most days, however, I am truly thrilled that this is my life. I get to have my quiet mornings with my pets (2 cats and a dog) ,and now the little baby girl kickin' and squirmin' in my belly. I have the creative freedom to be in my studio all day instead of an office or factory. This adventure of mine would not be possible without the support and encouragement from my family, friends, my amazing collectors who put my art in their homes, and most importantly, my husband Rolland.
