I've always wanted to be an artist. My great grandmother painted porcelain china dish ware and jewelry, and I think she must have been a huge artistic influence on me. I remember walking into her upstairs closet on her farm in southwest Iowa, and being surrounded by shelves and shelves of porcelain plates and sugar bowls and butter dishes... I remember the smell of turpentine and mixing mineral oil with her powdered pigments. I remember her kiln on her back porch, and the tiny baby shoes she painted for each of her great grandchildren gilded with our names in gold.

I grew up to earn a degree in theatre with an emphasis in costuming. One day, between jobs, I thought, "How can I use my skills in a way that is unique and different? Can I become a bit of an artist like my great grandmother?" I'd always wanted to try, but I had a difficult time trying to figure out how.

One thing led to another, and I found myself drawing upon my years of experience as a costume designer to make distinctive attire for the dramatically inclined, my first business: a wearable arts endeavor I called Relished Artistry.

Years later, I've decided to take the plunge once again and use another side of my artistic side: my illustration skills. I'd taught costume design for years at the university level, but when Procreate and the iPad came out it changed my workflow and my interests irrevocably. Suddenly I had a new way of expressing myself, and I fell into it with gusto. I turned my interest in telling theatrical stories to telling illustrated ones. I fell in love with children's illustration, landscapes, fantasy art, and art that inspires the imagination. It became my goal to create something pretty, something heartfelt and original and get it into the hands of those that needed something small and precious to brighten their day and maybe, for a little while at least, to smile.

This has become even more important in recent years with so much social strife, tragedy, and cultural churn. Sometimes, a person needs to go zen and just appreciate the simple things. And look at things that inspire them or make their heart lighter.

And that's what I try to make: images that are theatrical, expressive and inspiring. Art that is not available anywhere else in the forms found on my shop here because it's too expensive to mass produce. Art that is inherently emotional, vivid, and out of the ordinary. Art that has a story. And art in a form you can use every day and keep close to your heart.

I created Coreyartus Imagery to provide an outlet for stationery featuring my artistic side. I sometimes think my work could be considered frivolous and over the top, but hopefully it is never boring or uninteresting.

I think my great grandmother would have been proud.