Why Are Artists?

I didn’t set out to become a full-time artist.

I started as a homeschooling mom making jewelry and selling it on eBay. I liked making things, and I kept finding new things to make.

Eventually, I moved into digital collage.

That became my main work for years. I used my own photography, antique images, folklore, fairy tales, and whatever strange idea happened to catch my attention. I loved building surreal scenes and creating work that felt a little mysterious and a little off-center.

Then my life changed.

I became a widow raising four children, and art became much more than something I did when I had time. It became how I supported my family. That transition happened gradually. I kept making work, doing shows, learning what sold, trying new things, and figuring it out as I went.

For a long time, digital collage felt like the right way for me to work.

Then, late last year, I started wanting something simpler: ink and paper. I began drawing little creatures, ghosts, odd animals, and other beings that seemed to have their own personalities almost immediately.

Eventually, I started calling them the Unbelongings. They are strange little souls that don’t quite seem to fit where they’re supposed to. Some are funny. Some are sad. Some look annoyed. A surprising number of them seem to have opinions. And yes, I realize that creating an entire collection of creatures called the Unbelongings probably says something about me.

I’m fine with that.

One of the things I’ve learned from doing this for so long is that your work changes because you change. I can still see pieces of my older work in what I make now. The fairy tales are still there. The ghosts are definitely still there. So are the strange women, unusual creatures, and stories that never quite explain themselves.

The materials are different, but I’m still interested in many of the same things. I also still have no idea what I’m going to make next, and I actually like that.

I’ve gone from jewelry to digital collage to ink drawings, with plenty of side roads along the way. I’ve made things I thought would become important that went nowhere, and things I started almost casually that became a major part of my work.

The Unbelongings were one of those surprises. So was becoming a full-time artist.

Looking back, there was never one big decision that brought me here. It was a lot of smaller ones, made over many years: keep making; try this; see what happens, and then make the next thing.

Fire in the Sky with Kitty

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