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 >^..^<