I was raised in Louisiana in the U.S. I began winning art contests in the first grade and was given my first oil painting kit when I was 13. I spent my younger years just trying to support my family. I love to paint landscapes and wildlife but I draw everything. I began to do portraits just a few months ago as a last ditch effort to have an career as an artist. Would REALLY like to do that before I die. I am teaching an art class at my church and my pupils really keep me on my toes, learning new techniques and mediums to teach them. I have gone back to my main love, painting, and have sold a surprising number of paintings just through word of mouth. My dream of becoming an artist was fulfilled on the day I was baptsed in 2013. I had just given the preacher a few drawings I had done of Jesus with children and, after the baptismal, a woman asked me f I was "the artist" I realized then that money wasn't what made an artist, it's the drive to create.