I have pursued creative activities since I was young.

I was a Brownie and a Girl Scout simply because that was the only place in my world that I could find craft activities. I have never been satisfied with anything plain. I have to paint or decorate almost every surface and object in my home.

I spent 25 years in the medical field and was never fully satisfied. There were aspects that I loved, but those were the areas where I was allowed to think creatively. Then through a series of interesting events, I found myself not working, and enjoying all the time I had to create art. I became interested in creating my own website to sell my art and wanted to take You*University from Artella. I wrote Marney and asked if she'd consider letting me barter for the course by working for her. I had some experience with Photshop and thought maybe I could do some creative work for her. The help she needed, however was administrative. I am so right brained that this made me laugh! I'm not known for my organization, memory or secretarial skills. But, I was willing to try if it meant I could take YOU*U.

To my amazement, she was pleased with my work. After I had worked enough hours to pay for the course, she asked me if I'd continue helping her and I did. I loved my job! I got to learn from Marney and the vision of Artella was so in sync with my values, how could I not hang around?

I did write some e-courses and an e-book and created a website where I produced a few other products. But, my focus was more on Artella and how I could help continue Marney's beautiful dream of what Artella could provide to the creative community.

In time, I started working closely with Tony, too. He has taught me so much about myself. The opportunity to hear his thoughts and learn from him is so unique and wonderful that I should be paying him! Both Tony and Marney have literally changed my life. Many times a week I am overwhelmed with gratitude that I get to do this for my job. That I get the pleasure of working with Marney and Tony and the awesome Artella staff! How could a girl get so lucky?

On the personal side, I have two sons. My youngest son is 24 and is a professional bull rider. He lives in the same town as me and brings me immense joy and pride. My older son is 29 and lives in Dallas. He is married and has four children under 6 yrs old. Three grandsons and a beautiful granddaughter! He is a fabulous father and my mama's heart swells with pride to see his as a loving husband and father doing such a good job.

I love antiques and any objects with a history. Decorating my home is something I am continually working on and enjoy. I love doing collage and art journaling. I love computers and learning new technology as well as surfing the net reading blogs and looking for new ideas and concepts that can keep my computer skills up to date. I have a lot of online friends and enjoy corresponding with them and sharing ideas.

I still have a website, but I sell my art and courses through the Shoppes of Artella now. I keep my website mostly for the joy of desigining it and playing with the technology. I like sharing my thoughts and free things with other artists, and it's fun to see who comes by and checks in on my thoughts :)