I always loved drawing and doodling, but I never thought I was very good. After high school, I signed up for a drawing class at the local community college. Unfortunately the combination of being shy, and having no confidence in my drawing ability, led to my self-doubt getting the better of me and I quit the class after only a few sessions.
I continued to practice drawing some, but mostly shifted to making jewelry, which I have continued doing ever since. I also wanted to try painting…and the thought continued to plague me until I gave in and gave it a real shot.
In 2007, I took a spiritual painting class at the Learning Light.
At first, when the teacher saw my work, she kind of freaked out a little (but I could tell she was trying not to) because I started off by covering the entire canvas in black…which I guess to her felt like it went against ‘spiritual painting.’ But I went with my intuition and as my painting progressed, started adding colors and speckles and whatever my spirit moved me to paint. The contrast with the black ended up making the colors feel even brighter. In the end, my painting felt very spiritual to me and felt like light bursting forth from the dark.
I enjoyed that class so much and I found the act of painting to be very relaxing and meditative. I was really happy with my first painting so I took what I learned and began painting at home. My love for painting has continued to grow ever since.
Here is my first painting from 2007.
