Is exactly what I told my husband. He just gave me "The Look". You know, the one that questions your sanity, that's what I got.

It had been years since I painted. Growing up, my dad was my biggest supporter, my biggest fan when it came to my creativity. He passed away unexpectedly when I was sixteen. It was absolutely devastating. I stopped painting, my creativity just seemed to disappear. I married my husband when I was twenty three. He knew that I had the spark for creativity, and over time he came to understand the need that I had to express my creative side as well as the difficulties I had in doing so. He began to encourage me to paint again when he learned that it was something I used to enjoy doing. He would often tell me he would love to see me paint something, that he knew I had to be good at it and that I would still enjoy it as much as I used to. Eventually we were out together one day and, like always, went through the craft section of the store we were in. I picked out what I needed to paint.

It was bad. Really, really bad. I was out of practice, slightly overwhelmed and did I say it was bad? My husband was too nice to tell me it was bad, he continued to encourage me, he cheered me on, and when I became frustrated and doubted myself, he was nothing but understanding. He encouraged me to practice, always praising my bad artwork and knowing I could improve. Over time his reactions started to change, and I could see the difference, he recognized my more improved artwork a little differently than my failed pieces. I was relieved to realize that he didn't just have a terrible eye for art.

As time went on, I began to accumulate paintings and my husband would pick out his favorites to display on the walls of our house. When storing the others began to create a space issue, I told him I needed a bigger house with more wall space, prompting the "you're insane" look. He said it would make better sense to simply sell my paintings. The idea terrified me at first. We both enjoyed my paintings, and friends and family were the only others who had seen them, I had even given one or two to friends who had really liked a certain piece. But the idea of showing my stuff to complete strangers made me feel very insecure about my talent, or lack of talent, if they saw it that way.

Eventually I took a leap of faith and started my Etsy shop. I realized that not everyone has to like what i make, not everyone would see it as talent, and not everyone would want it. I'm okay with that. I enjoy what I do, I love my artwork and my little creations. If someone else likes them too, well, that's just the icing on the cake.