When I think back on my childhood, two things come to mind: pain and art. You see, I was diagnosed with Polyarticular Juvenile Arthritis at two years of age. Walking was extremely painful, running was out of the question, and playing outside was severely minimized.I had to find other, pain free, ways to keep myself busy. This is how I first discovered art and fell in love with creating.
As a young girl, I would sit at the kitchen table for hours drawing my favorite cartoon characters and filling up my coloring books with bold vibrant colors. My mom swears I drew an image of a cat at two and she could see the artist within!
I regularly took art electives in school and was lucky to have an inspiring high school teacher who introduced us to the masters and taught us the basic foundations of drawing, color theory, various techniques and mediums; I soaked it up like a sponge! I studied Interior Design for two years in college until I realized it wasn’t my true calling. I completed a BA in Psychology and a Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in Health Care. Before getting married and starting a family, I worked in the fields of physician education and adult instruction for a number of years. In 1999 I had my first joint replacement at the age of 29. As so often happens, life had gotten in the way and art had taken a back seat.
In 2005, I serendipitously met a local artist/teacher and was finally able to get back to my true passion. Since then, I have taken a number of local art classes, through Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Paint Creek Center for the Arts and the Warren-Tri-County Art Society. In 2014, I created this website to document my creative journey, from the beginning, on this blog.
Throughout my life, I have found that art is the one thing that I keep coming back to. It’s the one thing that lightens my load, that speaks to me and lifts my spirits. It kept me company as a young girl, became a teacher as a teenager, and will be a mentor for my soul always.
Jenlynnart 