I just can't quit my people. They have been with me as a stop and start process for a very long time. When I was in my early 20's, I painted my first person on a back of a pizza box, for the sole purpose of having some art in my apartment. That painting that looked like real art and made me proud. I kept painting and did my first festival. A traumatizing event, not one sale. I stopped painting for a good bit. I hit my 30's and I got the taste again. I started painting and got my work into a few places and even made 2005 calendars of my people. Not totally unsuccessful, but not sustainable. I started my own magazine and became a mother of two. This carried me all the way through my 40's. I can still remember a poignant moment when my daughters were young, we were snuggled in bed together and thinking to myself that I have to show them what it looks like not to give up on your dreams. I hadn't painted in years and I knew it was slipping away. So here I am, 50 and painting.