Hi, I’m Emily, and this is my story.
When I was a child I was in love with paper dolls. My grandma had a collection from her childhood that she would let me and my sisters play with on special occasions. They felt like treasures. I wanted my own so badly! I asked my Mom to show me how to draw paper dolls just like Grandma’s. I was 5 at the time. My Mom took art in college. She showed me a thing or two. And from there my love for art and creating grew. She showed me how to draw faces, how to blend colors with my colored pencils. A world of art that I wanted to immerse myself in. I spent most of my childhood and life drawing people and never really venturing beyond the world of pencils.
Until I was sixteen. That year for Christmas my Uncle bought me my first watercolor set. I was scared to death of watercolor-until I became obsessed! Through most of my teen years I started to experiment with other mediums. Pastels, charcoal, acrylics. I never landed on anything, and once I got my first job working at the local Dairy Queen I stopped creating art altogether. it was still in me, but I was so far removed from the artist I dreamed of being.
Fast forward a few years and I’m marrying my childhood sweetheart Jed. A man I’d known since we were kids, and my favorite person in the world. Shortly after being married I brought my pencils out of hiding and started drawing again. Jed was always my biggest supporter and my greatest cheerleader, letting our first apartment look like a mesh between an disorganized art studio, and a home. I had all manor of paintings and sketches hanging on the walls, an art desk right next to the couch and a fire deep inside of me for creating.
A year later we had moved into a house and I gave birth to our first born son Quinn. I chose to stay home with him which opened up more time for art! I started painting again. I didn’t have a style, goal, or a purpose in it other then it being my passion and a hobby. It became a part of my weekly life. I decided at that time that I wanted to stick to watercolors since it was what I knew best and felt most confident in. And again my husband was my biggest supporter. I’ll never forget the time he gifted me a full set of brushes (expensive brushes!) for my birthday. I cried!
Three years later I gave birth to our second son Avery!
Shortly after Avery was born we lost our home to a flood. It was devastating.
It was a season of mourning and loss as we salvaged what we could and moved in with my Mother in law. God was good through it all, and had surrounded us with incredible friends and family who helped get us back onto our feet and into an apartment. That apartment started to feel like home and we were starting to breath again. I remember sitting at my desk and for the first time in the last several months, feeling inspired to create.
But we weren’t out of the woods just yet. When Avery was four months old he was diagnosed with Congenital Glaucoma. It was a scary diagnosis. We were told if he didn’t have an emergency surgery in each eye he would go blind. Two life shaking events in the span of three months. All of a sudden we were faced with the “what do we truly want to do with our lives” question. My husband quit his job and started his own business! I decided I wanted to pursue art as a career. I had made it a habit to paint daily at this point, but never with much intention. It felt as though it were as much a part of me as breathing was and it also held a sense of hope for me. Like my soul was in that paintbrush. I started putting in the work. I got invited to an art showcase! My very first ever. It was exhilarating, It was exciting. I knew I was doing what I was meant to be doing.
At that time I was only painting with watercolors. My friend who is a realtor started having me paint portraits of her clients houses. I didn’t realize I would love painting houses as much as I do! It started to take off! There was so much purpose in it. Each house came with a family and memories. It started to become a regular request and I started to paint them for more people then just my friend. People all over the country.
Then quarantine hit and I found myself pulling out the old cigar box of acrylic paints that my brother had passed down to me years ago. It felt almost like I was betraying my watercolors, but there was just something so inviting about them. So moody. So timeless. I felt inspired to paint scenes from my childhood. The kind of landscapes I grew up around in the country.
It’s been two years now of painting with acrylics. I still paint watercolor house portraits but I know landscapes are my passion. I’m able to express myself in a whole new way, windows open, birds singing, with the sun rising in front of me! It just feels right. it just feels me!
