Nearly ten years ago I made a simple New Year's resolution: to set aside one hour each week to do something creative. It completely changed my life. 

I was initially drawn to alcohol inks because of the bright, happy colors, but I quickly became addicted to their surprising behavior and beautiful, organic movement. They are dyes in an alcohol base that are vibrant, yet transparent, and dry very quickly. Working on non-porous surfaces gives them time to move and blend in amazing ways.
 
I rarely use brushes, instead pushing and guiding the inks to let them pool, bloom, and dry in layers to get the effects I am looking for. Through my art I hope that you can experience the joy I feel when I create. 

I say I'm a self-taught artist, but that's not really true. I've had wonderful mentors and teachers throughout my youth in 4-H and school. I've always loved to draw and paint, entering my art projects in the County Fair hoping for a blue ribbon. Art was one of my favorite classes in school because we were exposed to new mediums and given the opportunity to explore. But I didn't graduate college with a fine art degree. In fact, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up.

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Then life got very busy with work (I ended up in marketing), a growing family (a wonderful husband and three amazing kids), and creative time was hard to come by.  But when I finally decided to MAKE the time, I rediscovered the joy of creating - and it literally changed my life.

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You can do it, too. Set aside time each week and start experimenting until you find that thing – your thing – that gets you excited and brings you joy. Then continue to make the time to do it.  Who knows where it might lead?