Hi and welcome to the first post of this new Blog. I have been on a meandering journey regarding art since I was in High School and it is still a source of joy, frustration, thrills and stagnation to name a few of the emotions I have experienced over the years.

I knew I was a frustrated artist from way back but my life has had a way of taking over and carrying me down the stream while I dealt with the needs of each day one at a time. Wife, Mother, Daughter, Friend. Therapy, Marriage counselling, battle with weight issues. Extra curricular activities with kids, sports, laundry, cooking, work. It’s all work. Life is work. Art is work.

Then one day it’s all done. The kids are all gone. Grown up and living lives of their own. And I’m left with the questions that we must all have at that point in our lives. Who am I? What do I do now? What am I good at? What brings me joy? What the hell is going on?

I used to love art class in high school. I didn’t like much else about school. I don’t consider myself simple minded…I’m fairly well read…I do ok playing trivia games…I can hold my own in most conversations with various types of people. School just wasn’t my thing. Too restrictive. I now wonder if I had ADD issues like my younger brother did but It was just missed in the shuffle….I digress…Art was always my thing. When I finished school ( with a push from my then boyfriend now husband) I ended up in a round about way going to Hairdressing School. That suited my need to create and be silly and be able to move around a bit. It’s a art form and it fulfilled my my needs for a while.

Then came marriage and kids. I took classes in the evening for Tole painting, a fad of the time. I sewed animals and dresses for my daughters. I decorated and painted houses with a friend. I took night classes in Beginner Acrylic painting during my kids teen years. All the while knowing I loved art but never giving it centre stage in my life.

I worked in retail, I got my real estate license. I worked in a grocery store. Always thinking to myself…if I was given 6 months to live….I would want to go somewhere and just paint.

Then one day my husband asked me if I would like to go live in the Caribbean so he could take his dream job. I said YES! I thought….here’s my chance…I will paint! It was time to set my intention, gather supplies, summon up inspiration. I once again found ways to avoid the easel spending the first two years on the island making recycled beach bags and selling them at a market once a week. Ugh! Why can’t I get to it? Then I decided that I needed to go alway on an Art retreat to kickstart the process. So off to North Carolina I went to spend three days painting with a lovely group of like minded individuals at an awesome studio with Donna Downey. Things were finally beginning to shift!

One thing I’ve realized is that Art Is Work! Paintings don’t appear out of thin air. It takes work and COURAGE…yes it takes lots of fortitude because there can be nothing scarier than facing a blank canvas or a white piece of paper. I have found a way to take the stress out of facing a new work. I just start to make marks…kinda like a toddler…just scribble something down…it will be covered up later but take the first step and do some work….just do the work and things will begin to happen!