Background: I have spent my whole life fascinated by artwork. The artist talent runs in my family, starting with my great grandfather. He worked as an artist for Walt Disney. He passed the charm down to my grandfather who worked with oils and acrylics. My dad (as far as I know) never painted, but did pencil drawings. When my grandfather noticed that I started developing the inherited talent – he pushed me into many different mediums at a young age. It started with pencils and inks. It eventually evolved into paintings and mixed media, but that would come much later. After his death in 2005, I stopped doing any kind of artwork for a very long time. I went through a very angry phase for a quite a few years because I did not handle his death well. I was mad at the world. However, in 2008, I met my husband who saw some of my old work and pushed me to get back into doing artwork. Today, I’ve expanded my artistic reach to not only drawings with pencils and inks, but to elaborate pieces of abstract and life like artwork. I recently am dabbling into jewelry making and Christmas ornament making. In a general sense, I love making artwork that has some sort of connection with nature. Almost every piece that I’ve ever made has some sort of connection with nature – whether it be a spiritual connection or a direct connection (actually being a plant or an animal). In my abstract pieces, you can see how much chaos is in each one. Nature is like that – chaotic and uncontrolled. Chaos is, by definition, the storm of the soul. I choose to show that as best as I can in each piece of artwork that I make – big or small. Inspirations: Vincent van Gogh has always been a favorite artist of mine. He was a troubled man, but spoke so much in his artwork. He has inspired me since I was young, and I’m sure he will continue to. More recently, I have come to know artist Connie Minowa (who is a live and commissioned artist with the band called Cloud Cult). Her work is full of spiritual and positive energy and I admire that so much. She and her family have also gone through some troubled times with the loss of their first son, and both her and her husband have set out in this world to express their love and positivity through art and music. I am fascinated at their strength and commitment to endure and to help people move past tragedy that comes with the chaos of life.