A rather strange turn of events...

Well, my life took a strange turn today: I am officially a professional artist!

I know - whoa! I mean like, that gets a total Keanu "WHOA!"

A bit of background on me - I used to paint quite a bit when I was younger. Loved it. I loved creating things with my hands. I wasn't limited to easels, I would paint odd shapes of wood, rocks, pottery...hell, I even tried my hand at sculpting!

Five years ago, Tropical Storm Allison backslapped the city of Houston really hard. I had a storage space at that time where I kept things while I was not living in the city. Included in that inventory was pretty much every piece of artwork I created from the age of 13 to 24. Well, it flooded and everything was ruined.

I literally had a piece of my soul ripped out with it's destruction. I didn't pick up a paintbrush again for a while, and when I did it was only to paint these little pots as a stress reliever. I couldn't bring myself to put a brush to canvas again. That part of me died.

Well, today something changed. A friend of my Mother saw one of the few remaining paintings that exist. I must have done the piece over a decade ago. She looked at some other stuff, and asked to contact me. Well, we met today. She is an artist herself, but more importantly, she is an art dealer. She basically became my agent today, offering to put any new works in some of the galleries she helps run, and to help me sell my work. She's going to help me set up a website as a gallery, then, if I complete 12 solid pieces before the year is done, she'll put in in said galleries. This woman does a lot of work with interior decorators who are hired by people wishing to furnish their homes with original artwork. She'll find out what they're looking for, then make the connection from client to artist.

Listening to all of this was strange enough, but the moment she put (a lot) of cash in my hand, it skipped straight to surreal. She realizes that I haven't painted in 5 years (not seriously) but she felt that from what she saw, I was worth the risk. I hope that I live up to her expectations.

I never thought that art would re-enter my life. I was done with it...but this kind of opportunity some people would kill for, and I just had it fall into my lap. I've had ideas flowing through my head all day - canvases I need to build, supplies I need (which she is helping me with) and my god...I actually feel it! I actually remembered what this felt like. It's amazing!

Anyway, I'm going to paint for a while. I'm going to start with a piece that's been haunting my mind for a few years now - an idea that I never thought would see the light of day...but now it will.

My head is still reeling from this. I'll start posting images as these pieces progress.

I can't believe I got paid for artwork today!