"The Young and Dumb" Period Armed with an art teaching degree in 1978, I thought I was ready to take on any challenge that presented itself. Why not? I was always drawing and painting from an early age. I knew the students would be anxious to sit at my feet and absorb my teachings. Well, that didn't work, so to make ends meet I part-timed in retail sales trying my best to put housewares in every home. I was also broke. After deciding that pushing La Creuset cookware didn't ring my bell, I thought about going into the Visual Merchandising end of the retail world.
"Retail is My Life" Period Now this was a much better fit to feed my creativity needs! After working with Federated Department Stores, Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York, 25 years of retail sales, creating fabulous displays and window designs I had enough! It was a choice between "bitter-yet-creative" or "gloriously happy and creative". Hmmmm... what's the answer?
" Down the Yellow Brick Road" Period So in 1996, I started my own line of needlepoint designs. Leaving my bitter friends in retail, I embarked on my own yellow brick road. Now that I have come full circle back to drawing and painting, I still dabble in doing window displays for a small group of clients. I also design some large projects for a Chicago event production company. But for the most part, designing unique needlepoint is my full time job. So I think I have found what I was looking for. As Dorothy learned, it was here all the time.
" Deep in the Heart of Where!?!" October
2006 brought the awful truth of being an adult when I lost my Dad without
warning. This occurred after losing my Mother in 2004. After lots of angst
and thought, I decided to buy the family home. In the next few months, Dan
and I will be living in Dallas but still traveling back to Chicago frequently
to see family and friends. So the roller-coaster of life continues!
In the news!
Me and “the Donald”
I am very proud and excited to show you all the painting I created over the summer of 2009. This 2 ’x 3’ painting of Donald Duck was entered into a contest sponsored by The Walt Disney Company. I entered two sketches in early June, and was notified in late June that I was a runner up! The top prize was to be awarded at the new D23.com Expo in Anaheim at the convention center. This was a kind of trade show for Disney freaks, geeks, and fans. Exhibits, movie previews, celebrities, and much more. Check out: www.d23.com.
Then I found out that they wanted a painting of one of the sketches and lo and behold, I became a finalist! So off we went to California to experience the Expo and the Magic Kingdom as well. The park was fun, the Expo was interesting. The winner was announced Saturday night at a ceremony in the Arena of the convention center. The bad news? I did not win. The good news, is that they now own the painting and it lives in The Walt Disney Archives. There were 5 finalists and I was lucky enough to be one of them. I’m very excited and proud of this achievement.
So this “journey” was great even though the “destination” was not what I expected. Isn’t that like life itself?
Article from Needlepoint Now July '08 issue!
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Needlepoint Now
November/December 2009 issue
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