Who is the Joy Artist?

Get the Know The Joy Artist

Since it is small business month, I thought I would take this opportunity to share a few things about me, in case you are new to my community. It was fun for me to go down memory lane!

I grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado. My husband and I met at CSU and we were married in December of 1995, months before he graduated.  We were babies!

We moved to Minnesota where I finished my Elementary Education degree and Tony received a Masters in Theology.

Our first jobs were in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and we lived there for five years. Our oldest two daughters were born in Iowa and we had amazing friends.

I taught middle school for 4 years until our desire to be near grandparents brought us back to Colorado.

A Big Twist

When we moved to Colorado, I took a job as an Administrative Assistant in a small company. After the birth of our third daughter in 1995, I spent 135 days in the hospital after a Strep A infection. This illness changed my life.  I had to learn how to accept help from others, as there were many things I couldn’t do on my own.  

I learned that accepting their gifts was the gift I was able to give back to them.  I also learned that I was enough. I was worthy of the attention I received just because I was human, not because of some role I fulfilled in my life as a mom, daughter, teacher, etc. This is the root of my healing art.  My deep desire to help heal others stems from this illness.  

Despite health challenges, we happily raised our beautiful family right here in Denver!

The Healing Journey

Because of my own healing journey, I became a Healing Touch Practitioner in 2001. I still do healing work, and will be doing more in the future.  More on that later!

In 2011, I self-published the story of my illness in a book called Moving Mountains.  I was a number one bestseller on amazon for a few hours! 

In 2012 I became a certified wellness coach. I was working with women in a law firm when I created my first product Moments of Delight. (The updated version is now called Mindful Moments) 

In 2017, I started making greeting cards, mostly thank yous to send out, following the book, 365 Thank Yous.  That was the year I had my first 10x10 booth at the Mind Body Spirit Fair. (Actually the top picture is of my very first fair selling my self care cards in 2015?- notice the Be Kind cards under the sign!)

In 2019, I did 22 shows!  That was a record!

My own Continued Healing and Work

After going through two soul art classes myself, I have been facilitating nine-month long soul art programs created by an art therapist for over two years. I am starting my 7th group this next week!  I spend about 12 hours a month guiding women on their healing journeys.

Over Mother's Day weekend, I got up at 2 am both Saturday and Sunday to learn a new healing technique called Havening from a teacher in Ireland.  I am excited to see how I can add this form of healing into my healing sessions.  More information on this to come.  Watch for details.

While it sounds like a hodgepodge of things, it all fits together under the umbrella of "Be Kind to Yourself."  Because of the growth I have undergone in my own healing journey, I think the best way we can serve the world is to make ourselves whole. 

That is why my art contains so many positive messages, and I continue to do the healing work necessary to be my best.

It has been a winding road to get to where I am, but I am proud of all I have accomplished since starting a family corporation in 2008. The names of my businesses have changed, but I am still here, reminding people that: