My name is Victoria. My husband David & I have 3 children, Jasmine, Bailey and Parker. My husband has retired from the army and now works in the civilian world. I homeschool our kids, and create. We have a dog, two cats, and chickens, we also have quite a few bird feeders and love watching the videos form one of them. As a family, or individually, we love being outside and seeing nature in all it’s amazing forms.

I have always been a doodler, once I started homeschooling I needed something that was just for me. I started with coloring and painting just for fun. It quickly turned in to a full time hobby. As the house filled with my creations, my husband suggested selling them. I was very hesitant but his encouragement helped. I started selling in 2017. Art has become a kind of therapy for me. I have chronic pain issues and drawing and painting helps me shift my focus. When I draw or paint my mind quiets and it is almost meditative, everything melts away and I just create.

My Process

Inspiration comes from so many places it is hard to list them. I love when customers make suggestions, I also frequently draw things with family or friends in mind. I have discovered my best art happens when inspiration has struck randomly. I don’t work as well with requests or guides. I typically start by looking at a few reference pictures and sketch an outline, with paper and pencil. Once the outline looks right it is time to add the fun stuff. Sometimes I draw the details and designs and then color them in. Other times I color in the image and then ink the details and fine lines. There have been quite a few I have nearly finished and the piece and I aren’t agreeing so I scrap it and start over. An image could talk anywhere from 5-6 hours, sitting and drawing strait from start to finish, or months and for a few even years. I have quite a few that I am working on at once and if we aren’t agreeing (yes I am talking about the art and myself arguing).

Whimsical Names and Stories

Once the animal, or image, is done it is time for a name and story. For most of my animals I look up their characteristics, symbolism, or significance in different cultures. Then I find names that have a similar meaning to the animal characteristics and symbolism. I truly enjoy this bit of my process. For my plants, hobbies, dinosaurs, and mythical animals I find names that just seem right to me. They could be related to characteristics, fun names you don’t hear anymore, or just a name that strikes my fancy. I don’t like to use common names that your hear everyday, because well you hear them all the time!