Before Recovery

This was my first collage and it depicts what it felt like to me being a drug addict and how difficult life was at that point. It is very graphic and only a glimpse into the darkness that was dragging me down for so long. Looking back on these images now makes me more and more grateful to be sober and to not be living that kind of life anymore. It was not only hard on me, but my family as well. Still is at times.

These two represent my life after recovery. The third one that is not completely finished was even later in recovery and also represents that like my art I am a work in progress. I have grown as an artist and a person over the years and will continue to do so. We are always evolving and changing as we learn and grow through life and that is more true for me now than ever before in my life. It is really great to be making such positive changes in my life. This year has really been the best year of my life so far. I have so much to be thankful for and I hope that by sharing my journey with others it brings hope and encouragement to others. It is a great thing if we can each inspire one another to be the best we can be and to live a life full of love, laughter, joy, and lots and lots of art!! Art is the breath in my lungs. It is so amazing how it can take you places you never even dreamed or imagined would be possible. 

This is one of my more recent  pieces that I created. It is a handmade book using one of my very favorite tools, the Zutter machine with beautiful Webster Pages paper and the frame is by Melissa Francis. For me creating art is therapy for everything. It is good for stress and pain relief. 

Anyway, that is just a touch of my art. I will add more as I get everything all together on my new Macbook Pro. After being a windows user all my life I just made the switch and I am really loving the simplicity of my new computer. I thought it would be so difficult to learn a new operating system, but it has been pretty easy so far. I learn things by mistake which is always cool. In my art I don't call mistakes that, they are creative opportunities which always end up helping me make something even better and I love it when that happens. Learning from mistakes is something I am an old pro at. It is when I do not learn from mistakes that I can get myself into trouble. I have learned some really hard lessons that way, but I have also learned some fabulous and fun lessons. Well, I need to get ready for class. Will share more later. Thanks for stopping by to look and for listening.

Heather Grace >^..^<

Taking the plunge!

I am finally taking the plunge into the great wide world of blogging. I have thought about it for sometime now and that is all I have done....think. So today is the day that I take yet another step in my current journey of great big life altering and transforming steps. I have really been on a life altering path for several years now, but the last five or six months I have also been making a lot of positive changes in my life that are helping me on my path in life.
I started making art when I got into recovery. I found it very hard to sit still or to quiet my mind when I first got off drugs and art soothed me in a way that nothing else could. It kept my mind occupied and my hands busy and before long I had grown not only as an artist but as a person a well. Both paths are a part of me, allowing me to appreciate how good life is now. Being a recovering drug addict is not what anyone wants to be, but I know that I would not be who I am today or where I am if I had not experienced that very difficult part of life.
I am a mixed-media artist, wife, mother, daughter, cousin, niece, volunteer, and college student. I am three months shy of finishing my Associates degree in Business Administration/Visual Communication and then I will begin working on my Bachelor's of Fine Art in digital design. I am so excited at the idea of being a graphic design artist. Looking back now I realize that I have been doing just that already in my artwork. I also recently began volunteering at Second Chance Animal Sanctuary and it has been wonderful to be involved with such an amazing program.
The first art I made were two collages. One was a depiction of my life before recovery and the other a look at what life was like after recovery. From there I made postcards from left over calendars and whatever art supplies my son had left one year from school. Then I learned how to make handmade books from my ever amazing and wonderful friend Lisa Polston. She also introduced me to the world of ATC's and online art groups! I have been a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and even had my own website for awhile. Of course at the time I knew nothing about marketing and how to sell my artwork. It was good experience for me though.
I have been an avid reader of Somerset Studio, Art Journaling, and more recently Artful Blogging. I have learned so much and been introduced to many terrific artists. I have been inspired by such wonderful artists like Sarah Whitmire, Pam Carrkier, Teesha Moore, Kelly Rae Roberts, Tim Holtz, and so many others.
I hope to meet many more artists and make all kinds of new friends as I start down this new chapter in my life. I hope you will join me and even help guide me as I am really new to this and look forward to meeting some amazing people!

Blessings,

Heather Grace >^..^<