Recreating myself as an artist.

I have been painting since I was 12, I remember this because for my 12th birthday my Mom gave me an acrylic paint set that I preceded to use up in about 3 months. After that, I always doodled or had a pencil in my hand. But the one thing that made me truly want to be an artist was a 3rd grade project in which everyone colored a picture and then we did a ink wash over the picture. I wanted to draw a single white rabbit with a pink nose but because I couldn't see the white on the paper I drew several rabbits and then drew a brown rabbit with the nose & ears. The excitement I felt when the white crayon appeared during the ink wash made me love art and I knew that I wanted to be an artist from that point on.
I grew up in Louisiana, my grandfather was a retired rod buster who became a produce farmer. He grew strawberries, corn, potatoes and tomatoes. My grandmother ran the grocery store and sold his produce and the basic necessities. My Dad was a tomato truck farmer, on two acres of land he grew enough tomatoes every year to take a trip to the beach and fill the freezer with blue crabs, shrimp and fish for the year. I come from a large Christian Catholic family with 4 boys and 2 girls.
I moved to Moultrie in 2000 because of my husband's job with the USDA Farm Service Agency. We lived in Kansas City, Missouri for 4 years after growing up in Louisiana. I learned how to use oil paints at the Colquitt County Arts Center and then worked for a year there as the secretary. From that experience I realized that my dream of being a professional artist was possible. So when my sons went off to college, I did too. In January of 2004, I entered Valdosta State University and graduated with a BA in Art in May 2006. Since then I have worked several part time or temporary jobs as a graphic designer but I continued to paint. Oil painting is my passion and I dream of the day when my studio is my business and I can paint portraits and make painting my only vocation.