This is 35 years of not painting

When I was 5 years old, I wrote in my copy of Dr. Seuss’ “All About Me” that I was going to be an artist when I grew up. I did not keep that promise to myself for 35 years.  Fast forward to age 40.  It’s lockdown and everybody is baking sourdough bread, which sounded difficult and gross. 

 

I decided to paint a portrait of my favorite author, Richard Brautigan, just to see if I’d recognize him.  I did.  (His daughter did, too.) I painted another portrait, then another.  I’ve now painted 200 portraits and most of them have found their way into private collections.  When I began, I was the least likely artist.  I was living in poverty, a single mom of 5 kids.  I had no formal art training.  What I did have was a genuine love for the people I have painted. 

 

I think the thing that connects people to my work is their recognition of that love.  I think they feel it too.  Now I am a TERO-certified artist for my tribe (Cherokee Nation) and am beginning to show my art.  I live and work in Salt Lake City.