Hi, I ’m Whitney

I always knew I wanted to be an artist and in truth, I’ve always been one, it just took some time to realize it and I’ve definitely taken a few detours along the way (thank you Starving Artist Myth- not helpful!) Then I finally realized I could be a happy thriving creative and have a fulfilling & rewarding life full of creativity, color and joy- and so can you!

About those detours…

The Starving Artist myth is a lie. Although I spent my childhood, high school and early college years making & studying art, I veered off course believing I couldn’t make a life from art. Instead I chose a career in medical management. I absolutely love helping people and while it filled me up for a while, I knew it wouldn’t last. I spent every free minute creating. So I went back to school, enrolled in a bunch of art classes & again I let the myth steer me off course, but this time I chose something much more creative…Interior Design. I love design and honestly, I’m good at it. I’ve been an Interior Designer for over a decade. I found a way to combine my creativity with my love of helping people. Perfect, right? Well, yes and no.

I still needed to make art- real, free, messy, colorful, joyful art. So I did.

In the meantime I met my husband, we battled together as he went through chemo for stage 3 melanoma (we won!), we got married & I started my own design firm. Then I got a design project that changed everything- I was to paint some colorful art for the space. The homeowner was beyond thrilled with the results. She said the paintings were keeping her up at night because she loved being in that space and looking at them so much! They truly brought her joy. I knew I had to make painting a much bigger part of my life. So I continued to create and design, but also made the leap to showing my art at local venues, First Friday’s, galleries and Open Studios and have been doing so for the last 8+ years.

Fast forward to 2019, I was struggling a bit, I was losing confidence in my creativity & couldn’t figure out why. Then… pandemic. While some pivoted, I felt like I had been smacked down and couldn’t move forward. I cheered on those that did & forced myself into the studio, muddling through but it wasn’t working. It all clicked when I heard a woman talking about her ADHD- her struggles, the doubt, the perfectionism, the over committing & doing it ALL and yet still somehow feeling like an imposter.

Her story was like she was reading directly from my life! It felt so familiar and relatable.

I threw myself into some research (hello ADHD hyperfocus!) made some appointments, joined some female entrepreneurial ADHD groups & figured out what I needed to do next. Now I’ve decided to share my story so you can do the same. Many women & girls go undiagnosed because ADHD shows up differently for us. I have lots of information & resources to share & will be adding snippets of that part of my life on my social media accounts, in my blog and of course in my art.

While I don’t claim ADHD is an actual superpower, it kinda is. It has led me to a better understanding of WHY I make art and how I want to share art & a creative way of life with you!