About the artist

I have always been creative, and used that power in the healing arts for 15 years. In 2002 I hurt my back and had surgery. . . a wonderful thing happened. . .not able to continue my line of work because of it’s physical nature, I closed my practice as a Physical Therapy Technician, Natural Therapeutic Specialist, and Neuromuscular Therapist, and started a project that ended up healing more than my back.

My brother and his wife asked if I would like to paint the walls in their backyard; something for their kids to enjoy. (They knew I was in pain, bored, and bummed out.-It would keep my mind off of things.) I told them that I would love to do it. I put more thought into the request and said, “What if I tile it?” Not ever having picked up a piece of tile, it seemed like a strange proposition. They said, “If you really want to do that, go for it.” They gave me every opportunity to change my mind because they knew it was going to be a lot of work, but I persisted.

After doing some research about different materials and proper installation methods, I started. The initial step was to get an idea of what they wanted. They reviewed my sketches of bold flowers, and a cat peering out from behind a tall blade of grass; they liked the ideas, so I took the plunge. . . cement boards were installed and tile was purchased. No backing out now! I had a vision of how I wanted the walls to look and created all the design elements first: a big winking sun, flowers, turtles, dragonflies, butterflies, lady bugs, a bird, a fish, a lizard, (and a Roswell alien-of course.) After getting acquainted with the use of a wet tile saw, I fashioned an apron out of a plastic trash bag and started cutting away. I used a $90.00 wet tile saw with a standard straight blade for the project. After placing the animals and flowers up, I filled in the sky and ground with broken tiles.

Several months later, the two walls were completed. These were my first mosaics: a 15’ x 4’ wall, and an 18’ x 4’ foot wall. A lasting piece of art that ignited my passion for mosaics and my transition into becoming a full time mosaic artist. Two walls that made me forget I was hurting, healed my back, and made my nieces smile. Two walls that kept us up late, laughing, bonding and having a good time.