​It’s been a couple of months since I updated the blog, so I figured it was time!  I’m now in Washington, and have been since the end of September.  Started working on my van conversion, amidst all the rain and short days, but it’s coming along!  Check out my YouTube channel to follow along as I post step by step details of the building process.  

​This is out of my comfort zone for sure, but at the same time…kinda not?  Reason being is that I’ve always had wanderlust, and love to travel, and explore new places.  And also, the building part itself, although technically some of it is out of my wheelhouse, the process isn’t so much.  Growing up in the bush of Alaska, my siblings and I were always building forts out of whatever we could find.  And along with that we helped out dad build cabins, mostly grunt labor of course, haha, but still was exposed to building at a very young age.  Then as an adult, I became a licensed residential contractor in Florida and built custom homes for many years.  I mostly ran the business side of things, but would often get out and help with some of the actual construction here and there.  The more I delve into the van build, the simple little tricks of the trade of construction are starting to come back to me, and I’m more at ease, and confident with what I’m doing. 

Before I made it to Washington, I sold almost everything I owned, and I truly mean that!  You can see in the picture above that only about half of the van was full, and that was it, that’s all I took.  And it felt so liberating to let go of so much stuff.  Really looking forward to living a more minimalistic lifestyle, for a little while anyway.  It took 10 days of driving, following a mostly southern route, and putting in anywhere from 5-8 hours a day on the road.  With my trusty little travel companion, Mikee, to keep me company…although she mostly just hung out in the back sleeping, haha!  She quickly adjusted to the van, which is a relief, because she’s going to be living in it, so she better be chill about it!  And we are currently working on harness training as well, so that she can go on walks and be leashed to the van when we are camping out.

​This trip takes me back to when I first left Alaska, and moved to Hawaii for college.  I didn’t know anyone there, had never really done any traveling on my own, but I so wanted to explore and see new things…and of course, chase the sun…which I’m still doing, haha.  Then a couple years of Hawaii life and I wanted to venture out more, and so packed my belongings into a single suitcase, hopped on a Greyhound bus and travelled cross country to Orlando, FL.  Where again, I didn’t know anybody, I had no job, no place to stay, and only $150 to my name.  But, I was fearless and hungry for new adventures.  I knew I would make it work, and did, just as I know I will make this new adventure work for me, and thrive with the opportunity to get to travel so freely.

I’m at a point in my life where I have no real responsibilities, no one to look after, no one who needs me to be there every day.  I have a job that I love, and that allows me to travel and be mobile.  And the wanderlust has been eating away at me, and finally one day I said, why not??  There is absolutely no reason for me not to just go out and do it, to travel and be free to roam around the country and visit all the beautiful places I’ve dreamed of visiting.  So, I’m doing it!  And beyond excited to get out there and just BE in nature, to revel in it’s beauty and be inspired by it.  You will definitely see lots of art created from the inspiration I will have on the road.  I already have some ideas from just being here in Washington, and the hikes and bike rides I’ve gone on, so much inspiration all around.

But, for now, I have to buckle down and focus on getting the van built out.  It’s quite the challenge with all the rain the PNW has been having, incessantly, droning on, day in and day out.   But, I’m making it work, and feel very fortunate to have family here that I can stay with while I do the conversion.  I’m hoping to be on the road within the next couple of months, the earlier the better, as I reallllly don’t like cold or snow, and want to be in warmer weather again.

If you’d like to follow along with my van build, and subsequent traveling adventures, be sure to subscribe to this blog, and my YouTube channel!  

I have some exciting, and slightly crazy news, haha!  I'm going to be leaving the state of Florida, after almost 30 years of living here, and heading out west, to Washington state.  I just feel it's time for a change, to do something different.  I also have a lot of family where I'm headed and it's a much closer trip to Alaska.  Which, I had planned to be going up to AK next week, but cancelled my plans so I could focus on this new move.  But, here's the crazy part...I'm not just moving, I'm also going to be getting a van, converting it into a little home/studio and going to travel all through the western states!  I've always wanted to explore the country more, especially the national parks, and mountainous, desert regions.  But, it's so hard to properly do all of that while living in Florida.  So, about a month ago it hit me that this is what I wanted do, and I'm manifesting it, and it's happening!  I haven't been so excited about something in a very long time!  I've always had a bit of wanderlust and this is going to be the perfect opportunity for me to just give into it and go with it.  The mountains are calling my name and I'm going to answer that call and paint my way through as many amazingly, magnificent mountains as I can, haha!

The plan is to eventually buy some land in WA, near my family, and build something for home base, But for an undetermined amount of time, I'm just going to travel in my converted van.  No pressure. no timelines, no deadlines, just pure, absolute freedom to travel the open road and explore all that nature has to offer.

But, here's my dilemma...I'm going to purchase the van here in Florida and take a leisurely drive across the country, just me and my little studio cat Mikee.  Once I get to WA I will convert the van and then hit the road.  So, obviously I'm not taking a whole lot of anything with me.  I've been selling off everything I own, haha, and now it's time for me to send all my current art to new homes!  The sale prices are ABSOLUTLEY.INSANE!!  Check out all the art in my massive moving sale HERE.

Since I will be living in a van with very limited space, I won't be doing any paintings over 19"x24".  My focus will be on my animal/nature collections, especially my, A NeverEnding Story of puzzle pieces.  So, my abstracts and landscapes will be put on hold indefinitely, even commissions, so if you have been on the fence about getting one, and/or adding to your collection this is the best the prices have been in forever, and may be the last time I paint these styles.  I'm planning on leaving within the next couple of months, so the sale will only be available until I leave, which is coming up soon!!

In addition to original paintings, my MAD Doodles and purses are also included in the sale!

The Bartram's Scrub-Hairstreak Butterfly is a beautiful, softly colored butterfly with pops of orange contrasted against the muted grays and tans.  It is native to South Florida, where I live, but have never seen one in my outdoor adventures, but that may be because they are a federally endangered species.  We always see paintings of flamboyantly decked out butterflies, so I wanted to highlight one that is more understated at first glance, but once you start to look at it the pops of rusty orange and the stripes on it's antennae and legs makes one realize just how beautiful of a butterfly species the Bartram is.  In this piece of A NeverEnding Story puzzle, the beautiful, and unique butterfly is perched on a curling vine admiring the pink tinted clouds floating past.

The Bartram's Hairstreak is a tiny little creature, measuring no more than an inch, and resides in the Pine Rockland habitat of South Florida on it's host plant, the pineland croton.  They usually don't stray more than 17 feet from their host plant, but will make use of other vegetation nearby.

These butterflies don't migrate which is one of the reasons they are susceptible to loss of habitat and endangered, they only exist in a couple of small areas.

Not a lot is known about these butterflies, including their lifespan, but it is known that they molt 5 times while they are growing, and that they are fast and hard to detect as they blend in with the foliage around them.  

​This puzzle is A Neverending Story...I am going to continue to add new puzzle pieces for an undetermined amount of time, but hopefully for a very long time!  Each piece of this puzzle will feature an animal, some of them endangered, some recovered from the endangered list through conservation efforts and others just because, haha! 

My goal for this work of puzzle art is to create a beautiful, colorful celebration of animals and the natural world.  We are all interconnected, and share this amazing planet that we get to call home.  By creating this puzzle and sharing it with art collectors and animal lovers around the world, I hope to create a sense of togetherness, we ARE in this together, and we need to be aware of our impact on the environment and other species, and be sure to make it positive.  Let's join together and help preserve and nurture this beautiful world that we all share, and celebrate the wonder of all the beautiful creatures that work in symbiotic harmony to create the most beautiful puzzle...planet earth.

A portion of the proceeds from each puzzle piece will be donated to ReWild, an organization I have collaborated with, and contribute to, to help “conserve the diversity of life on Earth".

I love all birds, and you will see LOTS of them throughout the "A NeverEnding Story" puzzle painting.  Whether as the featured piece of the puzzle or more in the background, birds will be everywhere you look!  Parrots are particularly fun because they are just so cute and colorful, looking at them instantly makes me happy and inspired.  So this puzzle piece has a fun parrot flying amongst the Seuss like trees with bubbles floating amongst the whimsical clouds.

Let's learn some fun facts about the parrot family!

There are close to over 400 different species of parrots, from Macaws to Cockatoos, and they can live up to 80 years old in the wild, almost the same life span as a human.  There are a few cases of parrots living past 100, imagine having a pet parrot that outlives you, haha!

Parrots are social birds and typically gather in flocks of 10-30 birds.  I currently live in Miami and I know when a flock of wild parrots is going overhead, I can usually here them before I see them, and it's so cool to see them all together.  Oftentimes they will congregate in treetops and make quite the ruckus!

Parrots are actually Omnivores with a diet consisting of plants, seeds and bugs.  Seeds and nuts are there favorite foods and their strong beak is perfect for cracking the nuts open.  Their beaks are constantly growing, but through grinding the beak and breaking open their food helps keep the length in check.

Parrots choose one mate for life and build a strong bond with their partner, even during the non breeding season.

Parrots are considered one of the most intelligent birds, with some species able to learn up to 100 words and phrases.  And they love music and dancing!  Most talking parrots are simply mimicking what they have heard, but there are some instances where parrots that have been professionally trained can actually understand and communicate beyond just mimicry.

Many species of birds have more colorful males than the females, so they can easily be distinguished which is which, but with parrots, both the male and females are flamboyantly colored.

I hope you enjoyed these fun facts and continue researching all there is to know about parrots.  There are so many different species with their own characteristics, it's fun to learn all there is to know!  ​

The first image release for A NeverEnding Story is the fabulous "Zenful Zebra"!  This beautiful creature is roaming the abundant grasslands with a colorful little birdie perched on his back for a free ride, while butterflies flit around from flower to flower on the afternoon breeze.  Currently prints are available with more fun products coming soon to show your love for zebras and all wildlife.

Some fun facts about zebras:  There are three species of zebras, all native to Africa, they are the plains zebra, mountain zebra and the endangered Grevy's zebra.  The Grevy's zebra is endangered due to hunting and habitat loss, but there are conservation organizations working with local groups, and using collars to track and protect these special zebras to preserve for generations to come.

​Zebras are suprisingly fast, able to run up to 40mph, and constantly on the move searching for grazing land and water, often traveling hundreds of miles to find the best food around.

Zebras are actually not a horse or a donkey, although more closely related to the donkey, but are in the same family called Equidaes. 

Zebras are herbivores, which means they eat plants, grasses, and roots.  They are also like a camel and go around 5 days without water.

One of the coolest things about zebras is that each one has it's own unique stripe pattern.  No one is sure why, whether it be to identify each other, act as sunscreen, ward off predators by confusing them or a combination of different reasons.  But, regardless they sure are one of the most beautiful creatures!  And unlike most animals, their skin is actually black.

Zebras are social creatures and usually travel in herds of 15 to 20 families, sometimes with 1,000s of animals in a herd.  This helps protect them from predators and they will form a semi-circle when threatened and have a very strong kick and bite, best not to mess around with them!  They also run in zig zag patterns to confuse any predators.

I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about these beautiful animals, and stay tuned for the next art drop puzzle piece from A NeverEnding Story!

​This puzzle is A Neverending Story...I am going to continue to add new puzzle pieces for an undetermined amount of time, but hopefully for a very long time!  Each piece of this puzzle will feature an animal, some of them endangered, some recovered from the endangered list through conservation efforts and others just because, haha! 

My goal for this work of puzzle art is to create a beautiful, colorful celebration of animals and the natural world.  We are all interconnected, and share this amazing planet that we get to call home.  By creating this puzzle and sharing it with art collectors and animal lovers around the world, I hope to create a sense of togetherness, we ARE in this together, and we need to be aware of our impact on the environment and other species, and be sure to make it positive.  Let's join together and help preserve and nurture this beautiful world that we all share, and celebrate the wonder of all the beautiful creatures that work in symbiotic harmony to create the most beautiful puzzle...planet earth.

A portion of the proceeds from each puzzle piece will be donated to ReWild, an organization I have collaborated with, and contribute to, to help “conserve the diversity of life on Earth".