Hello, this is why I am here :)

I’ve always loved doing art because I was a major nerd growing up. I love The Legend of Zelda, Lord of thing Rings, and really anything having to do with fantasy because I was obsessed with escapism. I wanted to be anywhere besides where I was, and art is how I can escape to the fantasy worlds and stories I envisioned in my head. 

I’ve always been someone to work with my hands as well, in fact, I grew up doing construction and worked in it for years. I learned to do things like lay floor, tile, finish work, and so much more. I learned how to actually craft during my time in construction, in a world full of terrible DIY home projects, it’s clear that a lot of people just don’t know how hard it is to shape a material to function the way you want it to. 

I’m not trying to sound pretentious though because I get it, the ability to create a product from your hands and to be proud of it is a skill and one that has to be developed. Which brings me to one of my biggest pet peeves of all time as an artist, the statement that people who are good at art are just “born with it”. I remember one woman telling me, “art is just something that someone is born with”. Honestly, it made me kinda sad. I think society is just so used to rejecting art as something meaningful, important, worthwhile and thus a skill that deserves to be developed that people just give up before they try. 

While art was something I loved doing, I was not always good at it. In fact, there was a very long time that I was terrible at it. I feel embarrassed talking about this (I don’t want to face the reality that I may be delusional) but I literally have a college degree that I am not using and pursuing a career in art when I couldn’t even make good art a couple years ago.

I don’t like talking about this because it makes me feel stupid for my life choices and has caused me financial hardship. The thing is, I’ve always been so creative,  inspired, and motivated when it comes to art, or really anything adjacent to art. When I was in college and trying to major in something “worthwhile”, something that had to do with science and math, it was like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole. After dealing with multiple other hardships at the time, I was too emotionally exhausted with pursuing things that, in my soul, were not meant for me. 

With that said, that is how I am here now! I want to solve the pain point that I felt so deeply for other people, and that’s to give people the opportunity to make art that they are proud of and to express the creative side of ourselves that has been hidden away for the more practical things in life. We all need that outlet, that chance to escape, and to enjoy that satisfaction of creating something beautiful with your hands.