My Art Journey

My husband, Todd, and I are both California natives. I retired from police work in 2012, and Todd followed in 2016. Just five months later, we left beautiful California and moved to the stunning White Mountains of Arizona to be closer to our grandkids. While they live in the blistering hot valley, we moved to the cooler mountains, where we even get snow in the winter!

Around 2017, I began seeing Instagram posts about a cake decorating technique called “mirror glaze.” I’ve been decorating cakes since I was about nine years old and am entirely self-taught. While I found mirror glaze intriguing, I hesitated to try it; I didn’t want to risk wasting a cake by messing up a new process.

Soon, my Instagram feed was flooded with another trend: “pour art.” This technique is similar to mirror glaze, but instead of cakes and glaze, it uses acrylic paints on canvas (or rocks, wood, plates, vases—the possibilities are endless!). I quickly became obsessed and dove into learning everything I could about it.

Eventually, I gathered the courage to buy some inexpensive acrylic paints in various colors and tried pour art for myself. I experimented with different mixes and techniques until I developed my own medium mixture that worked well for me.

This is not one of my early pours, but it is a
technique I really love. It's called a "swipe". 

Soon after moving to the White Mountains, Todd and I became friends with John and Julie, the owners of the wonderful art store in town, Kittle's Fine Art & Supply Co. www.kittlesfineart.com  After I learned the pouring methods, they encouraged me to start teaching acrylic pour classes at their shop. This experience allowed me to experiment with new ideas and share them with others. For a few years, I taught classes nearly every month, enjoying the lively interactions with my fun and creative students.

Between the pour paintings from my classes and those I did at home, I accumulated a large collection of painted canvases, which began to pile up. Thankfully, I have a very understanding and supportive husband who never commented on my borderline hoarding of painted canvases!

While this is what I'd like you to think my art area looked like:

This is what it usually looked like:

Absolute CHAOS!
Thankfully, it was all
hidden away in the loft

As I browsed through my growing stash, I decided to try something I had always wanted to do but had never dared: I entered our local Apache County Fair in 2018. It was incredibly nerve-wracking to put my work out there for public critique (much like publishing a blog!). That year, I submitted a decorated cake, a beaded spider, spice cookies, and an abstract painting (known as a “swipe” in acrylic pouring circles).

I envisioned a frame for the painting, sketched my idea, and my talented husband quickly put it together. The design allowed the canvas to sit on the frame, showcasing all sides. 

I’m happy to say I won third place for my spider and cookies, first place for my painting, and a first place ribbon—and a gorgeous purple ribbon for Best of Show—for my cake! I was so proud that I got a bit emotional. Not bad for trying something new at 56!

TRYING SOMETHING DIFFERENT

John, our friend from the art shop used one of my pours as a background for an amazing turtle he gifted his wife, Julie. 

Background pour by me and the beautiful
sea turtle painted by John Kittle.

Feeling inspired by John's work, I looked at my collection of canvases and realized I could try using my pours as unique backgrounds for paintings. Although I had dabbled in doodling, drawing, and a bit of childish painting, I had never painted seriously. But you don’t know what you’re capable of until you try, so I committed to painting on some of my pours and discovered that I thoroughly enjoyed it—and surprisingly, I wasn’t half bad! I wish I had started this creative journey years earlier.

In 2019, I entered the Apache County Fair once again. This time, I submitted decorated cookies, another decorated cake, and three paintings featuring pours as their backgrounds. In the end, I won first place for my decorated cookies. For my cake, I received first place and a this time a beautiful yellow ribbon for Outstanding Exhibit. To my great excitement, I received first place ribbons for two of my paintings and third place for my little sunken boat. Best of all, my tree painting “The Dream” won the People’s Choice Award! I was beyond flattered! As Sally Field famously said, “I can’t deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me!” In this case, they really liked my painting!

This is a cookie I detailed
using royal icing.

The 2020 fair was canceled due to—you guessed it—the pandemic. The next fair I entered was in 2021, but between 2019 and 2021, I had sold a few of my paintings, which meant I had to enter this fair as a professional. Though I didn’t feel like a professional, the rules stated that selling a painting qualified me as one! Competing against REAL professionals made me very nervous; I didn’t want to be embarrassed having my artwork shown next to theirs.

That year, I entered a cake, a dragon egg (I’ll share more about those in another post), and four paintings in the professional division. I won second place for my cake and third place for my dragon egg sculpture. Then, to my shock and delight, I won first place blue ribbons for ALL FOUR of my paintings! I was over the moon!

He looked a little sad inside the case.

While I’m very proud of these accomplishments, I’m not bragging about my ribbons. What I truly want to share is that you’re never too old to try something new! Here I am, now 62 years old, attempting to publish my first manuscript, with even more projects in the works. So, don’t be afraid to reach for the stars—give it a try!