Words cannot express my gratitude for your support in my health journey.

Most of you know me as an artist and animal lover, which is what I have identified with since I can remember. Through observing animal behavior, canine science, nature and wildlife, and learning to express my own inner psyche through art related to such, I found spiritual depth at an early age. It is true what they say about artists; my creative gifts and talents were born through great suffering.

I was first diagnosed with Narcolepsy at age 22. I had just moved from Canada to Texas with my one year old dog, Lucid, to attend a dog training school to become a certified canine behavior specialist. I almost got kicked out of school in week 3 for continuously showing up late to the morning class due to not waking up to my alarm.

I was determined to succeed, so I sought out a sleep study with a specialized doctor. I was shocked to be told I had the rare Narcolepsy sleeping disorder, but was excited for answers, and got the treatment I needed.

Within months, my life transformed. I stayed in school, excelled in the training program, and graduated at the top of my class. While I was extremely proud of myself, this joy was short-lived.

About a year into my treatment, my medications began to fail me, and I had a hard time finding work that was flexible enough for the amount of sick days I was having.

I trained dogs on and off, landed a corporate desk job with Apple, Inc. for about 5 years, and sold art whenever I had the energy. I found through working as an AppleCare tech specialist that I am a compassionate and patient listener and excellent teacher. I began to develop an idea for one day starting an online art academy, where I could teach and coach creatives through various mixed media visual arts processes, and help people learn how to draw, paint, take photos, and get the images out of their mind’s eye and onto the canvas.

While still working for Apple, I was then diagnosed with a herniated disc in my spine causing sciatica, on top of a neurological and misunderstood pain disorder called Fibromyalgia. This, on top of Narcolepsy, was devastating for my body and mind.

I was sick about 70% of the time and had to get on the Family Medical Leave program through Apple’s HR in order to keep food in the fridge and pay my rent, and was mostly bed-ridden for a couple of years. To make matters worse, I got involved in an abusive relationship, and found myself stranded in another state with a dangerous person, which led to me not being able to care for my physical needs, ignoring another emergent health crisis. After an emergency operation where I had to have an enlarged organ removed to save my life, I escaped the abusive relationship, and moved back home with family until I could find a place to live on my own again.

In 2016, I was at my wits end and unable to care for myself; I applied for Disability through Social Security, temporarily training dogs full time for a year in North Carolina to try to make ends meet. I was constantly homesick, and working harder than I ever had in my life. My health was failing, so to self-soothe, I started painting portraits of the dogs I was training after work. They started selling, and my year-long training contract ended, so I moved back home to Texas.

A couple months after moving home, my Disability case was approved, and I had a moment to rest and reset, and figure out what’s next. I started writing my art academy program, and working with my dog, Lucid, to see if she could help me with my debilitating symptoms. However, because she had some aggression issues with other dogs, I was unable to have her become a true support animal.

I have been living on welfare and supplemented income by training dogs part-time, until I began painting dog portrait commissions. The physical demands of full-time dog training was impossible for my aching, sleep-deprived body, so painting became the only way I could support myself.

Fast-forward 17 years from my original sleep disorder diagnosis, and I have finally found an outlet that brings me bliss, but moreover, brings others incredible amounts of joy and love: painting animals, wildlife and abstract, ethereal dreamscapes, and teaching art.