The Painting That Started It All

I didn’t grow up thinking I’d be an artist.

I didn’t take art classes in school, or have any kind of formal art education.

Sure, I had coloring books and crayons, but I don’t even remember artwork hanging on my fridge growing up.

No one ever handed me a sketchbook and said, “You’re good at this.”

But one night, completely by surprise, something unlocked in me.

My friend Michelle and I had signed up for a paint-and-sip night. You know the kind: wine, laughter, some cheap paint, brushes and a blank canvas where nobody expects you to create anything remotely “good.” It was art for the fun of it, and I definitely had fun that night.

The artist leading the workshop was a woman named Davina. I’ll never forget her energy—playful, encouraging, totally magnetic. She made art feel easy and fun and possible, even for people like me who didn't have any kind of natural skill.

The painting that night was a scene of palm trees in the moonlight. Davina showed us how to blend a glowing background, which was super easy. We laid in a horizon line, and some shine on the water, and a moon. Davina demonstrated the moon on my painting, so while I confess to being pretty annoyed at it at first, now I love that the painting includes a little piece of her handiness.

We were blown away when she taught us a redaction technique using the back end of a paintbrush to create texture in the palm tree trunks. We delighted in finishing the piece mixed-media style with sparkly glitter, little sea glass bits, even tiny rocks.
I’d never seen art presented like that before: approachable, expressive, and filled with joy.

Here are my results! I love this painting so much, it hangs directly over my computer screen so I can continue to be inspired by that night.

And here is Michelle's work- pretty great, right? I love how Michelle always adds personal touches to her painting, like the pier she painted in. (Thanks for letting me share it, Bestie!)

That night, something in me lit up.

I couldn't get out of my mind how fun that experience was, and I wanted to try it again soon. So a few months later I bought my first batch of art supplies. A sketchbook, some pencils, a big set of acrlyic paints, and some cheap brushes. Nothing fancy, just enough to start experimenting at home.

I enrolled myself in what I jokingly called “YouTube Art School,” and spent hours watching both YouTube and later Skillshare videos, flipping through books about drawing and perspective, and trying to figure out how to make what I saw in my head come out on paper.

It was slow at first. In fact, for YEARS, it was more of a curiosity than a commitment.

But still—I kept painting.

Here’s how many pieces I created, year by year:

2014 – 1

2015 – 3

2016 – 5

2017 – 30 paintings! This is the year something unlocked in me, and I started to "pull away from the pack" to create more. I picked up the pace of the youtube tutorials, and even worked on a few originals.

Then tragedy struck my world. In the period of a few month, my mother and sister both passed away from cancer. I painted a little, but my grief stole my momentum .

2018 – 11

2019 – 8 I spent this year commuting for a new job out of state- I had very little time to make progress this year.

2020 – 9 This is the year I began working for a startup at a crazy pace.

2021 – 20 Not many for most of the year, when in September, everything changed. It was September of this year, while flying on a plane, I made the decision to make Art a daily practice.

2022 – 165! Talk about an increase in productivity. Not daily, but this is definitely the year that my art practice turned from a hobby and into a practice.

Then, in 2023, I stopped counting.

That year, something else happened.

I finally BECAME an artist.

January 1 of 2023 I committed fully. Daily art. 365 days of creating my daily art practice now called Morii Months. This is a daily calendar of illustrations and captured moments of my life. You can find out more about Morii Months here.

I also joined the Las Vegas Urban Sketchers that year and began drawing out in the world with real people, on location, month after month.

I filled sketchbooks. Finished paintings.

Explored new styles and materials. Took risks.

And slowly, this thing I used to dabble in became the thing I am.

It all started with palm trees and moonlight, glitter and sea glass and someone who made art feel like play. Thank you, Davina and Michelle (who suggested the activity and is my biggest forever fan). You changed my life and made me remember who I am.

Yep, remember... because it turns out, I was always an artist and just didn't know it. More on that next week.