If you’re here reading this, you probably know that I post new blog articles every Wednesday. Most weeks, I have no problem coming up with topics. I always have something on my mind, and the words just flow. This week, for the first time ever, I sat down to write and I had no idea what to say.

It feels like I’ve said it all when it comes to art, business, and design. I realize I’m probably just feeling uninspired today. Despite my bout with writer’s block, I still want to show up. I love writing weekly, and I don’t want to break this habit.

As I stared at my screen, I thought of one thing I haven’t talked about much - “me.” I don’t really like talking about myself. However, it occurred to me that many of you probably don’t feel like you know me well. You may know about my work and my business, but you probably have no clue who I am beyond that.

So today is a bit of a getting to know me session.

Let’s start with the basics. I’m 33 years old. I live in Barrington, Illinois. Barrington is a Chicago suburb an hour outside the city. Because it’s further from the city, it’s a town full of hiking trails, horse farms, and lakes - all things I can’t get enough of. I live in a Cape Cod style house with a big front porch. When it’s nice outside, I practically live out there with a glass of wine. Our home is in a very woodsy, hilly neighborhood where the houses are far apart. We walk the dogs constantly, just enjoying the nature. There’s a big lake in our neighborhood, so it kind of feels like a vacation spot in the summer. In the Chicago winters, it’s pretty bleak and depressing.

I live with my husband Ryan, and our two dogs - Rupert (7) and Nigel (6 months). My parents live 15 minutes away. My oldest brother, sister-in-law, and little nephew live 15 minutes in the opposite direction. I have two younger siblings too - a sister who lives in downtown Chicago and a little brother who’s still in college. We’re very close with my family, and see them often- a lot more than we see friends (especially these days).

I grew up in a lot of different places, moving around as a kid. My dad worked at Motorola in its heydey, which took us all over the country to cities like Phoenix, AZ and Buffalo, NY. I always saw moving as an adventure, which is probably why I’m drawn to travel today. I was shy, being the smallest kid in all my classes. I had to work hard to meet new friends every time we moved. My parents finally settled in Cary, Illinois when I was in Middle School. I also attended high school there. I was very into art growing up, and had a sketchbook at the age of 10. I had a wild imagination (and still do), inventing crazy games for me and my siblings to play. I was an avid collector - seeking out rocks, seashells, spoons, and stamps to add to my collections. I got good grades growing up and never got into trouble. I had to work hard for my grades though, always struggling with the structure of school. Science was my least favorite subject. I was best at english, and loved reading books about adventure.

Ryan and I went to college at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He’s originally from Toledo, and his family still lives in Ohio. We try to visit them as much as we can. We met my junior year and his sophomore year at a big house party. It was a chance meeting. Someone was talking to him, grabbed my arm, and randomly introduced us. We talked for several hours, and the rest was history. We’ve been best friends ever since :)

As I neared the end of my college experience, I started to regret studying communications. Originally, I thought this was a great multi-purpose degree. I’d tried to get into graphic design earlier, but it was too late to switch and I didn’t have a portfolio. Looking back, I’m shocked the design program was so exclusive. Who has a portfolio at age 19? I dabbled with the idea of art school prior to college, but decided it wasn’t “practical.” No one told me otherwise. Despite all that, I couldn’t see myself not doing something creative for a living. Once I graduated, I decided to take a year off to study Art Direction at the Chicago Portfolio School while Ryan finished up college at Miami (since he was a year younger in school). We got married a year later at 23 years old. Ryan (a computer science major) found a great job at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio. I didn’t yet have a job yet. We got our first apartment in downtown Columbus, just a short walk from Nationwide Insurance’s headquarters.

I was in Columbus for six months before finally landing an in-house graphic design job at Wendy’s corporate (the fast food brand). The time I spent unemployed was the most humbling, difficult, time of my life. I had no motivation to make art, and felt like a failure every day because I couldn’t land a job. While Columbus has many things to offer, it doesn’t exactly have a booming design scene like Chicago. My days consisted of unsuccessfully searching for jobs, watching Ellen, and waiting for Ryan to get home. It was a low point. A lot of what I talk about today is inspired by that time, because I wish I could have used it to make art. I know it would have made things better. For some reason, I just couldn’t sit down and do the work. Not having a creative outlet most certainly made this difficult time in my life much worse. It would be another 4 years before I’d find the courage to make things again.

At Wendy’s, I started out animating content for the digital menu boards. I eventually got into branding projects - producing a brand book, and helping implement the famous 2013 logo update. I worked at Wendy’s for four years, before quitting to start my own freelance business. I was so scared to quit my job, but I knew I’d always regret it if I didn’t try freelancing. While I liked the work and the people at Wendy’s, I didn’t like the structure of corporate. Ryan was a champ and supported me mentally and financially while I took that leap of faith. After many AWFUL client experiences, I had a thriving freelance business a year in. When I say awful, I mean taking anything I could find on Craigslist just to make some money. Around that same time, we’d bought a fixer upper in Upper Arlington (a suburb just outside of Columbus). Between renovations and a new puppy (Rupert), it was a crazy phase of life. I have good memories though because I loved freelancing, and I was on cloud nine to be working from home every day. I knew I had found my element.

Once I started freelancing, I found the courage to start making art again. I had more control over my schedule, and I was just happier all around. When I was working a 9-5, I was too exhausted to do anything but watch TV after work. In 2015, I had a “crazy” idea to start sharing illustrations on Instagram. I was super late to the Instagram game, but I knew I needed a way of holding myself accountable. Once I created an account, I posted my first illustration. That was all I needed to get the ball rolling. At the time, sharing my work online was the scariest thing I’d ever done. However, with each drawing, I gained more confidence. At this point, I was using markers, pens, and colored pencils to create my work. I knew very little about printing or editing art. In the beginning, I struggled with two things - finding things to draw and finding my own unique style (two other topics I write about quite often now). In 2015, I made my first art print - a map of Columbus, Ohio and posted it on Etsy. It would be a while before I saw any sales though.

A Progression of My Art from 2015-Present Day…

Throughout the five years we lived in Ohio, I was really missing Chicago. Columbus is a great city, but I didn’t get to see my family as much as I wanted, even though we were driving back ALL THE TIME. I always pictured us ending up by family. Ryan’s parents and brother were still 2 hours away, so I often felt isolated. Ryan wasn’t ready to leave his new job at J.P. Morgan Chase yet, so we waited for the right time to move. In 2016, he started to talk about finding a new job. We decided he would start applying in Chicago, just to see what happened. He brought in THREE job offers within several weeks. It felt like a sign that this move was meant to be. He finally accepted a job as a solutions engineer at a big data company, and we moved in with my parents.

After living with my parents for 4 months, we still hadn’t found a house yet. One weekend, we went back to Columbus to pack up our old house and attend a wedding. Ryan’s parents were amazing, and came in to help us pack. My mom sent me a link to a Cape Cod in Barrington, Illinois that had just been listed. I didn’t see her text until later that night, because I was so busy packing. When I did see the message, it was too late to call. I called her at 6 am the next morning, and asked if they would meet up with our realtor and see the house on our behalf. I knew we had to act quick! They saw the house, loved it, and we put in an offer without even seeing it. The first time we saw the house was at the home inspection. Thank goodness, I was obsessed. We loved everything about it!

We’ve been living in this house for four years now. I work out of an upstairs bedroom. Ryan works in the bedroom next door. He’s at the same job and has always worked from home, so we’re lucky Covid didn’t change our work situation. This house has been great for my creativity, because it’s given me the space to work. In spring of 2018, I discovered gouache, which has been a game changer for my art. I’d been slowly adding more prints to Etsy, and growing my business. Gouache made everything feel easier. At some point, I started this blog.

In 2019, I scaled back on client graphic design work to focus on growing the illustration aspect of my business. I felt like I was spending too much time on the computer. That year, I updated all my listing copy and photography on Etsy. I created more art than I ever have. In 2020, I started offering larger print sizes and that was when I actually saw some real growth in sales. My shop took off. I attribute a lot of that success to Covid and people having more time at home to decorate.

This year, I kicked 2021 off with a 31 day mini painting challenge. I also taught my first ever class in Barrington. Future goals are to write and illustrate children’s books, release online illustration classes, and grow the wholesale portion of my art print business. Getting to this point was not easy, but I’m happy to be on the other side of what’s felt like a lifelong creative struggle. I’m feeling more connected to my art than ever. I no longer have issues finding my own unique style, envying other artists, dealing with imposter syndrome, or coming up with things to paint. My mission is to help other artists overcome these roadblocks faster than I did. That’s really why I do what I do. I had to work every day for years to form a healthy relationship with my art. Along the way, it felt like the world was fighting me tooth and nail to keep me from doing what I loved. I think that’s often how it works for really big things though. You have to fight hard for the life you want, especially if it’s different than the life most people are living.

When I’m not designing or painting, I’m usually watching TV with Ryan or reading. TV is often villainized, but it’s honestly where I get a lot of my art ideas. I love the storytelling and visual effects. We love a good movie night too. My dad was amazing and built us a movie theater-sized screen in our basement, so we have our own little screening room. I’m often baking too. I love baking, but not cooking as much. We Door Dash a lot. We also love going to the dog park or picking up coffee locally.

Pre-Covid, we loved to travel. Ryan use to travel to some really neat cities for work, so I would tag along (a big perk of being a freelancer). I would just request a hotel room with a desk. My biggest projects have been completed in hotel rooms. Our last big trip was to Laguna Beach in early 2020. One of our favorite places to go is Quebec City in Canada, so we’re excited for when we get to go there again.

Some little quirks about me - my favorite color is green (I love a hunter or mint green). My favorite food is pancakes. My favorite season is Fall. I love antiquing, and have an obsession with history. I’m not a morning person. I even tell Ryan not to talk to me until 10 am, it’s that bad :) I do my best art in the afternoon. I try hard to be a tea drinker over a coffee drinker, because I love coffee too much - constantly falling on and off the addiction wagon. For an alcoholic beverage, I’ll usually go with chardonnay or champagne (old lady style). I love doing my makeup, but hate doing my hair. I’m not a crier, but when I do cry, it’s usually the result of a Pixar movie or one with dogs. I’m a great listener, but not a super open person - something I’m working on. Hey, this post is a great start! I’m clumsy and break things all the time. I trip a lot too. I sleep like a log. If our house caught on fire and Ryan wasn’t home, I’d be in BIG trouble. Good thing we have dogs :) I love yoga and walking, but hate the gym. I’ve hated milk and crumbly cheeses my whole life. I love animals, sweets, wood fires, sunsets, and the sound of the ocean, but who doesn’t?