I haven't had any formal training in painting. The story of how I started painting 9 years ago is this:

 I had moved to Austin, Texas and right after I got there my beloved mom passed away.  I was stuck in Austin by myself, grieving.  One day I was watching Real World in New Orleans and one of the crazy ladies on the show started painting (she had never done it before) and she said, "Art has become my therapy."  That day I went to the local art store and bought a lil canvas and an acrylic paint kit.  My first painting was a flower w/ a picture of myself, my brother and my Mother in the middle.  And then I just kept painting.  A lot of my work comes from cool looking African American women I admire-- Nina Simone, India Arie, Erykah Badu, Alice Walker, and Maya Angelo to name just a few.

I love the different hairstyles and just want to celebrate women overall.  My painting has also evolved from when I started. I am currently very interested in combining my paintings and incorporating paper mosaic pieces.

In the beginning a lot of my art was made out of sadness so you will notice a lot of tears in some of my work, but eventually it evolved into more. The paintings started out of sadness but then moved into giving me inner peace and happiness.   As far as my education in general - I have a BA in Sociology
from Whitman College.