Reflecting and Looking Ahead

This week in October marks the anniversary of starting my maternity leave. It's funny to reflect that this time last year I was 36 weeks pregnant and half of our home was being dry walled. As most people know, I was a public school art teacher. Last year I had my daughter, Courtney, and was lucky enough to have a district that granted a year of maternity leave. For many reasons, I decided not to return to teaching this September and to stay home to best care for my family. I have since ventured into starting my own business, one that I have been working on building for years (If you are or ever were a teacher you know that not much time is left for extracurricular activities or businesses).

I LOVE to teach. Plain and simple. There is something about inspiring others and empowering them with art. I began offering painting workshops in September at A Whole New Light to continue teaching. I have had such a positive response from the community! It has been so wonderful to meet so many women from my town and all over South Jersey who are interested in learning and trying new things. The conversations are priceless and there is a guarantee of laughter.

If you have attended one of my painting workshops already, thank you for your support! If you haven't, I'd love to meet you and paint something together. I will be adding winter painting workshops very soon. To browse current classes and to register online, click here.

Volunteer

This painting began as a photograph that I took on my iPhone. Just as the name describes it, this pumpkin is our volunteer who decided to grow on it's own (my guess is from a seed that came from the pumpkin I threw there last year after it got all funky). I was really intrigued with how the pumpkin was hidden and shaded behind the leaves and vines. I thought it created an interesting composition and nice metaphor for the work of volunteers. Most of the time volunteers are never seen but hidden in the background of an event or task. The same is true for this pumpkin. You wouldn't know it was there if you didn't look behind the leaves. What do you think of this painting? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Volunteer - Acrylics on Panel - 5" x 5"