I’ve always made things. I know how cliché that sounds: “Oh, when did you become an artist?” “Well, I’ve been painting since I was in the womb!” But really, I’ve always been creative, and I always believed I’d translate it one day into a career. I was always the girl drawing people in class rather than taking notes. I knew what I wanted to do with my life.



As a senior in high school, I became insanely disenchanted with the lack of support for those wishing to pursue creative fields. As the school board was finalizing their plans to build a third gym, we art students were running out of paper and had to use the backs of completed creations while bringing paint from home. I started painting the school: first a ceiling tile in the art room, next a window looking out to the hall. The Vice Principal took notice and asked me to paint a large bay window separating his office from the main office. I gladly accepted the challenge and spent the next few months on the project.



One day I ran out of paint. I squeezed one of the last tubes of acrylic dry and realized, as they were bustling about preparing for the gymnasium addition, that I couldn’t stay. I told the VP after I was done with the mural I wouldn’t be back, and I kept my word. I know that might sound silly and short sighted, but the day I left, I knew I was going to make it regardless. Two months later I attended a portfolio review at the local college and was accepted on the spot. That was really the beginning of my personal quest to make it as an artist.



I quit my job in February of 2003 when I was 5 months pregnant with my little guy. I was in college and was burning the candle at both ends — full-time college student waiting tables at a local restaurant whilst my belly swelled, and I slowly started to realize all of that was not going to work. I started selling my work on eBay and did pretty well there, but the fees were insane. I mean, one month my fees were more than our rent. It might have said I was a silver powerseller over there, but that means little if you’re paying out more than half of that between fees and general business expenses (paints, canvas, shipping supplies, etc.). I had thought it wasn’t such a bad thing at the time because we had two incomes and I was feeling my way around my new venture.



Then, in early 2005, my son was diagnosed with autism. There was a huge change in the family dynamic… Things hadn’t been going so well for my son’s father and I, so in late 2005 we split up, and I found myself alone. It was all squarely on my shoulders for the first time in my life, and I had a two year old to care for and no steady paycheck. Talk about struggle. We ended up in a one bedroom apartment in a nasty part of the city, my son occupying the only bedroom while I set up camp in the livingroom. Those were supremely hard times. I didn’t even have a phone for a month and had to walk down to this biker bar at the end of the road to use the pay phone. Luckily, my landlord liked my work, so for a while we traded art for rent.



At the same time I was trying my hand at getting into a gallery in the Hamptons. The owner of the gallery was extremely helpful and encouraging and paid ahead for artwork to be shown in the gallery. I even sold my car for a pittance to be able to pay a month’s worth of bills. When I could no longer afford to purchase supplies to create new paintings, I was forced to admit to myself — and the gallery owner — that I wasn’t able to guarantee new work for an approaching solo show. We parted ways. I couldn’t keep going on like that anymore. I wasn’t going to be able to survive much longer and something had to change.



Then, around Christmas 2006 on the eBay message boards, I read about a relatively new site. The site was Etsy, and there was a lot of buzz around it in the art community. Many questioned its viability. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose by giving it a try. Within two days of signing up I sold a $200.00 painting and was able to pay my utilities for the month. It was the first sign of hope I had in nearly two years. With that one single sale I realized it was possible. There was something to Etsy, and I needed to make it work.



The rest, as they say, is history :)







MY PARTNERSHIP - I have partnered with Iprintfromhome.com, a local company in Kenmore, NY to provide archival, museum quality prints that will last a lifetime. I work closely with this professional printer and they represent the highest standards of quality, excellence, and ethical responsibility.