The journey begins.
The journey started in October of 2021 when I began to experience a prompting to start an art business. Having never been an entrepreneur, I had no idea where to start. I came across an online advertisement for an art mentoring program entitled, “Created to Thrive” provided by Matt Tommey. I signed up for the program and was off and running. The program gave me the encouragement to believe that I could, in fact, start an art business, as well as the needed training and support to understand the how. Even more importantly, though, I learned how to understand my creative calling, the spiritual nature of being a creative and why it’s important to understand yourself as a creative. The past nine months have been an exciting, rewarding and challenging learning process that has, at times, been exhausting and stressful but is slowly coming to life and has included participating in four art shows, having my first solo art exhibit at a local business, commissioned paintings as well as selling paintings, conducting paint parties and contracting with a local non-profit to provide art classes to autistic children.
The future, of course, is yet to be determined. In the Bible it says in James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” Additionally, in Matthew 25:35 it states, “For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.” Creating and selling my art will fulfill these verses and attempt to provide resources to those who need help.
The desire and need to be creative, most especially painting, continues to be strong. Now that this first year is almost in the books and I have learned how to start and somewhat move through the process of starting and running a business, I will begin to focus more diligently on improving my skills, deciding what genre I will pursue, finding my niche in the art market and creating strategic partnerships that allow me to support efforts that align with my vision for supporting efforts that help the marginalized of society. It’s an exciting time. The journey started with a single decision and step. Now it will, hopefully, continue to progress with God’s help one step at a time. Here is a recently sold painting entitled, “Lower Yellowstone Falls 2”.
