With the exception of my children, my art is my life. I’ve heard it said that anyone can be taught to draw. I totally disagree. You do it because you were born to do it and I certainly was. I never felt like I fit in my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. I was a right-brained person living in a left-brained world. I was so limited there. I did, however, attend college there where I learned Photoshop, which has been my saving grace. I was reluctant because I did not like computers, being an artist, and thinking I would never need it. But that was back in ’96. Who know that the internet would dominate everything.
It was that inbetween period before kids and real responsibility, when I had no real grip on reality, that I would just create art forever and life would be as easy as it had been. Then, with only a year to go before graduation, I found myself pregnant, no job, etc. I spent those pregnant months in the computer lab working diligently on my graphic art and switching from oil paints to acrylic. I found it a highly productive time, pun intended. From this point on things were going to be different and I knew it.
Over the last decade I have struggled to keep my art alive while holding down multiple jobs just to keep me and my son afloat, casting aside my passion for anything that would pay the bills. I worked so many jobs, never fitting in anywhere – waiting tables at various places, working at The Cookie Company to an all time low as a greeter at WalMart. The most important thing was to make sure my son was taken care of. The second most important was to keep creating no matter what. In rare moments when he was asleep or at least occupied, I would work on my old iMac that I bought with my tax refund. Finding images from various sources, manipulating them, and giving them new life by means of Photoshop. It’s not as simple as slapping a buch of images together and using a filter. I realized I had to dig deep, which makes all the difference. There is something so satisfing about making art. It’s very cathartic and it’s pure bliss sometimes. Other times I would just feel like watching old The Golden Girls reruns on Lifetime – to bad there won’t be anymore, but I digress. After all, art and life can be very draining. During these difficult years as supermom/superartist, my job opportunities were drying up with the economy. Everything was turning really sour. No jobs, threat of car repossession, nosy neighbors, etc, all had a hand in my decision to leave the country.
On my arrival in Germany, I had no idea what awaited me but everything fell into place. I got a job doing graphics in beautiful downtown Munich. I was here a year then came baby #2. It was soooo unexpected but there you have it. As I write this my little rugrat is trying to press keys and impeding progress, but those are small potatos in the scheme of things. God’s hand has surely been upon us. I am finally in a place, literally and figuratively where I can do artwork freely,have people appreciate it and have a hope of selling it. But you can’t do it for the money. It must come from the soul. So as soon as I get my little one settled down it’s back to creating, forever.
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