Hello, sweet reader!

This blog post is for anyone who aspires to grow into a dream.

If you desire to develop a skill, and become something greater, and know that it will take years (or decades!) of hard work to get there, this post is for you.

I’ve technically been calling myself an artist my whole life; I didn’t start making art in 2015. There was never that big, terrifying step from “well, I dabble” to “I’m an ARTIST” for me, which I KNOW can be so hard to start seeing yourself that way, and helping others to as well.

I’ve been making art and receiving praise for it since I was three.

But toward the end of high school and into my college years, I lost sight of how much I loved to do it. Other things got in the way of drawing and painting, like schoolwork, being pregnant, and trying to figure out if there’s anything else ADULTY I should be doing.

Also, I greatly blame my first smartphone & constant access to social media for killing the artist in me for a while there.

Nevertheless, I was an artist.

If you are an artist now, you always have been.

If you will be an artist in the future, then you are an artist now.

You’re an artist whether you’re producing any work or not. Being an artist is a way of living and seeing the world.

A dramatic change took place in me after I had my first baby. Suddenly my trajectory toward a college degree (already a bleak-seeming path) was in jeopardy, and I was knee-deep in motherhood and LOVING IT. I loved being a homemaker and shaping a tiny life.

My first tandem mother-painting session with baby Abigail

Out of the blue, an itch to create became so loud I couldn’t ignore it. Being a mom meant I was plenty busy, but it also included naptimes. So I made the transition from deeming my art unimportant (a mindset born from years of being scolded for making it more important than school) to opening my life and my world to include it.

I had very little direction for my creativity at first.

Making our calendar ensured that I did something creative at least once per month.

And by that, I mean NO DIRECTION. I would make Christmas decorations one day and sketch little character versions of myself the next. I would play with chalk pastels and make abstract designs, and I would look up DIY weaving tutorials and fail horribly at finishing them, but have fun trying.

And as a passionate, impulsive person, each new spark of an idea FELT LIKE MY LIFE’S CALLING.

“Maybe I’ll open an Etsy Shop and sell prints!” (by the way, thank you to all you who bought some!)

One of the few paintings I did that year that I’m still proud of.

Social media played an important role in my journey. By following other artists, I could see that people actually do want to see you take a first step. They’re there to cheer you on as you improve. They don’t want to just see the amazing end product - they want everything it took to get there!

This took away my paralyzing fear that I couldn’t start unless I was already where I wanted to be. It freed me and allowed me to experiment each day and fail and move on from failure.

And fail I did! I’m so glad I took photos of all my early work. 2015-2016 was my very first year as a SERIOUS artist, and I want you to see it in all its glory. Soak it in. Nothing great is made in a day, or a month, or even a year.

I lined up all my favorite paintings that year for our New Years Eve decor. Helloooo 2016!

Kept getting the urge to create whimsical characters, then would lose interest immediately. Hahaha

Fluffy was our cat for a while as we house-sat for my grandparents while they served a mission.

I drew Weston as an assignment for my head drawing class. HIS NOSE IS NOT REALLY THIS BIG

I could never decide between doing realism (which I was trained in) and these fun little quotes. WHY?! Haha

I’d hang wet oil paintings on our walls in our tiny apartment, with brown paper to protect the walls. We ran out of wall space pretty quick with an artist in the house!

I believe this one was called “Feed Me and Tell Me I’m Pretty”

I have to include just one of my figure drawing class assignments, though there are DOZENS from this year

I’ve been throwing all my passion into painting for over FOUR YEARS now. I’d like to do posts to cover years two and three, and bring you all the way to today.

I still have so much further to go - the rest of my life!

Thanks for looking back with me!