Background Info

Well I decided to branch out and make a blog dedicated to my artsy side. Can't guarantee it will be that exciting but...I will do my best. Let me tell you a bit about myself. I like to do art. Always have, always will most likely.

I first caught the artbug from my grandmother. She loved paint in oils. She was pretty good actually. One day in the car I remember her pointing out the mountains surrounding my house and showed me how the ridges looked like fingers curled in. She said, "See Stacey, you're growing up in the palm of God's hands." I have never looked at mountains the same since. That is what art is to me. Remembering the great gifts from our Heavenly Father in the world around us.

My uncle also has a tremendous artistic gift. He helped me weld a shield in high school for a humanities project and again it opened my eyes to the way materials can be manipulated. That same year in school was the first time a teacher ever expressed that I might have a raw talent. I was a sophomore in high school. As a junior I was invited into the AP Studio Art class based off some continuous line drawing exercises. I received a 3 for my portfolio that was judged by instructors from Princeton University. That summer I traveled throughout Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Lichenstein, France, and England taking in as much as a 17 year old can. I followed up my senior year with AP Art History and received a 4. I thought that was the end of my art escapades.

In astronomy I was asked to create a constellation from the stars and write a story to back up the image. I guess it sort of beat out the usual dot to dot imagery and my class was rather impressed. My friend April was in the class and asked me to draw a portrait of the Beatles for her dad for Father's Day. I guess that was my first commission. Again I hadn't put any faith into my abilities and tried to let it go.

My husband encouraged me to take it up again when we got married and I switched my major from Biology to Illustration. Quite the transition. I learned a lot in those classes but I think the most useful was the Color Theory course from Ann Stevenson. Thanks Ann. My husband and I were moving to the East Coast and I was still a semester shy of graduating with my Bachelor's so I thought I might be dropping it once again. Little did I know what would await me in Maryland.

I looked into transfering and realized I would be repeating my generals all over again rather than taking more art classes so...I withdrew before the courses even began. Nate noticed I started to decline in enthusiasm prompted me to look into private classes. A little present from my friends at Google and Voila STA School of Traditional Art popped up. Of course I couldn't bear to lose yet another night of the week away from my husband (I was working 6 days a week and recognize Sunday as a day of worship) so he suggested we take a class together. It was a success and I feel I owe most everything I know to Alan Fink. Thanks Alan for the best 4 years in art.

There you go my story. Now let's see some pictures...