Watercolor pet portraits and more!
I quit my job for this!
I have been selling my art off and on since I was 15 years old. I had an Etsy shop and would sell tiny paintings at First Fridays in downtown Phoenix. I had my first gallery show at 16 from that and it was awesome! All my friends and even a teacher of mine showed up to support me.
At some point it started feeling like an obligation and stopped being fun for me, I would get a new commission and it would cause so much anxiety that I wouldn't be able to draw or paint anything. So, a few years back I made a new year's resolution to not take any new commissions.
It took me a while, but I actually started enjoying the process again. I was journaling and painting every day and it reminded me how much I love making art and being creative!
Recently I began working on my mental health, with my anxiety issues and some other stuff I was finding that I hated going to work at my real human job. I really hated it. I would call out and stay in bed all day.
I got myself into a better head space and found that while the anxiety certainly worsened the situation, I still didn't want to be there. My amazing support system has collectively encouraged me to get back into being an artist as a profession, so I quit! I'm doing this full time and I'm having a great time doing it. Making videos, doing pet portraits, which I have always loved, and maybe working on publishing a children's book.
