12/29/2021
(The Description portion of my page only allows for concise and brief info. Hence me dropping this on a post.)
Artist statement... a bit of my history.
End of Summer of 1999, I moved to Seattle to attend art school and I have been here ever since. Graduated from the The Art Institute September 2001 with an Associate of Applied Arts. A few years later I decided to apply to Cornish College of the Arts. Although I was accepted to that school, I attended only one semester due to financial reasons. It was an honor to be accepted and I also had the opportunity to take a comics course with
Ellen Forney, a well know published graphic novel artist here in Seattle while
attending Cornish.
I have had the privilege to display my art as well as have art openings at small venues such as local cafes etc. In addition to my humble art openings, I was invited to show my paintings at an art gallery downtown Seattle.
While I was a dog groomer, I began creating dog portraits during my 8 year career as a groomer which eventually brought me to displaying my pet portraits in cafes. During that time I was commissioned to paint portraits of not only my groom client's pets but also other clientele whom viewed my art work at coffee shops and or through word of mouth.
Brief History:
I was born into a military family which obviously entailed a lot of moving overseas and also in the United States. Stuttgart, Germany is my birth place. There is a lineage of alcoholism in my family tree. I celebrated four years clean/sober on the 21st of this month. Although I struggle with ptsd, I have sought out therapy and the Adult Child of Alcoholic and Dysfunctional Families 12 step program has been a great support in addition to Alcoholics Anonymous. I have not had a severe depressive episode since 2016. Staying active, such as running, hitting the gym, skating, hiking, skiing, and whatever gets my endorphins flowing has had a positive impact on my physical and mental well-being. Although my art journey has been sporadic... I have not given up and my continued commitment to my sobriety has made that possible. During active addiction, I felt like that creative side of me died. Creating art is a blessing. When I am sober, I get to enjoy and appreciate expressing myself through my paintings.
