My first big break happened in first grade. Unbeknownst to me, my art teacher submitted one of my florals to a contest Scottish Rite Children's Hospital in Atlanta was holding. They ended up picking my painting and making a greeting card out of it. It was sold as a greeting card for two years and the original is still hanging in the Hospital.
This was my first big break and initial understanding that I could possibly pursue the arts as a career when I grew up. I am so thankful the hospital holds the contest because it for sure planted the seed that I wanted to be an artist.
When I was working on Liv's room last spring for the One Room Challenge, my Grandmother sent me one of the cards. I had been searching high and low for a spare greeting card with my painting printed on it, to no avail, so the arrival was timely. I immediately framed it and hung it on her gallery wall.
It is a reminder of the magic of others enjoying my work, and I am forever grateful and nostalgic for that first taste of interest in what I had to offer the world creatively.
