Recently, I finished an art business course that I took last year. During this course, I found myself faced with the question of why. Why do art? What motivates me, fascinates me, and draws me in? What are the deep seated feelings that drive me in my life. How is that reflected in what I do? In the course, I was asked to identify certain defining moments of my life, the feelings I felt, and what I learned from them.

I found this to be one of the most valuable things to learn about myself and it is teaching me how I can help others. My mission is to help heal and nourish feelings through empathy and compassion.

In my journey, I reflected on painful moments and happy moments. I realized that I had gone through some very rough times. At one point in my life I was even suicidal. I found myself in pain, trapped, alienated, and feeling worthless. I am not telling you this for sympathy, but rather to explain how I got to where I am now.

When I was growing up, I was told I was too sensitive. My feelings were always something that heavily dictated my decisions. When I was a teenager, I spent a lot of time alone reading, hoping to find something that spoke to me about who I was and if I had a purpose. On this path to healing, I realized, that emotions don’t have to rule my life. I found that I had a choice in what I felt. I had a choice whether to linger in dark, hollow places alone, or step out of it. It was and still is not always easy, but I am the only person who can makes changes in myself. Everyday I choose to wake up. I choose what emotions I nourish and which ones I acknowledge and put away. I choose to show up with all that I am, positive and negative, struggling to do my best making conscious decisions about how I use my feelings. Learning that I can adapt, gives me the strength everyday to continue my emotional journey. Taking small risks and being vulnerable were how I began. Later, I learned that being a little vulnerable was ok and helped me connect with others. This helped me figure out which types of people that I connect with and those that gave me energy and positivity.

One day, I stumbled upon the Heart Math Institute. I spent hours watching videos and reading on their website. I was totally fascinated with human heart. I learned about the heart and emotions. There is so much to our emotions. They effect how we feel, how we function, our health, and our decision making. I realized that there are lots of ways to manage emotions through breathing, yoga, meditation, journaling, art making, etc…

Armed with this ground breaking knowledge, I began my heart series of images. At first it was all about emotions. Explaining a feeling through the visual of a human heart. I chose the human heart image to remind me that the heart is not just the center of the bodies circulatory system, but the emotion center as well. I started with both positive and negative feelings. Enabling others to empathize with feelings of heartbreak after a break up, to the feeling of pure love and light.

And that is where I find myself now. I love exploring the feelings and emotions of the heart. Not just mine, but I love hearing others stories about their feelings. I found myself wanting to make more space in my life to help others with their emotions. There are tons of people out there who are still feeling like slaves to their emotions, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We all have a choice and we are not alone.

My journey lead me through many nooks and crannies of spirituality. I learned about manifesting. By using visualization and feelings together, I realized I could use the heart and my knowledge about emotions to help people manifest those feelings they might be struggling to choose in their lives, through creating it visually for them to feel, just like I was doing in my own life.

This revelation that I could help people with their feelings through art was not new. Enter art therapy. I am now taking some online classes and volunteering at places to help others though art; however, I wanted a more direct approach. Not everyone feels comfortable doing art therapy. Some people are timid just seeing a blank sheet of paper, but what if I could do the drawing for them. Enter my newest project, Explorations of the Heart. I created the example image below based on my own heart’s longing to grow my relationships and connections.

Explorations of my Heart-Growing Loving Connections

By visualizing imagery and discovering the feelings you are struggling to manifest in your life we can together create a heart image that speaks what you need to feel and see everyday to help you be conscious about nourishing that emotion.

I would really love to share this experience and journey with you! Contact me for more information and thank you so much for your time and attention.

My Mission