About Me
I have been creating in one way or another, since I was a little girl. From painting my face with watercolors as a little girl, to working in my very own dark room at 12, to sewing my own pattern for stick horses when I was 14, to painting and collage, to scrapbooking and art journaling, to doll making and mixed media art today, I have had my hands in some form of art ever since I can remember. Currently, I am fostering a long term goal of opening a shop of my own that involves children and art.

My BIG PICTURE
Some time down my long road... I have a plan. A plan to start a business. A brick and mortar business. In my dreams, it's a large building. Possibly an old car garage/gas station type. There will be an indoor playground so kids can play rain or shine. REALLY play. There will be used books. Lots of them. You can bring in old books, and get "new" ones in return... There will be free WiFi. There will be lots of couches and places to sit. There will be tables with play dough and paints and crayons and papers. There will be peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and apple slices. There will be mac and cheese. There will be teas and coffees and grown up food too. No matter who you are. No matter what age you are, it will be a place to come and be. It will be a place where anyone can find a corner to curl up with a good book and go on an adventure. It will be a place where messes in art can be made, and you'd better be sure to wear play clothes when you come. If you wear painty clothes, you will get a cookie. Some nights, there will be art classes. Teen agers won't feel like no one understands, because everyone who comes to my store doesn't care if their friends are "the right age". Grammas will snuggle with grandkids, and moms will wipe noses of kids they don't even know. Because at my place, we're all friends. We're all family.

This dream of mine is only in it's beginning stages. It will be a few years before I can see this into reality. One of the funny things about my journey to this place, is that all the places I've BEEN have contributed to where I want to go. My experience gained through various jobs will all have a donation to this adventure. I waited tables for years... I've volunteered at the kid's schools for years. Mostly working with kids and art. I was a teacher for toddlers. I helped run an extraordinary Daycare as it's assistant director for two years. I've been a bookworm for as long as I can remember. I've created art since I was a little girl. I was that teenager who thought that no one really "got" me. Now, I work in a management position on line... and in a coffee shop in the "real" world. It's all coming together into all the things I've ever wanted... as ONE thing I know I SHOULD do. I'm going to do it.

In the mean time, I want to start teaching semi private art classes. Semi private, as in 5 or less students at a time. The thing is, I would LIKE to be able to provide a student or two here and there, a "scholarship". There is a high number of kids in our area who NEED art. Not art that you get at school, which, our school district is fortunate enough to still offer... but the kind of art that says, "Here. Let's just SEE... it isn't important if it LOOKS like anything that anyone ELSE understands... just see what this does... just feel how this feels... look at this a new way... art that says you are just the way you should be. Art that says it's OK to color outside the lines.