In the Beginning...

Once upon a time, I quit my life in the horridly humid yet semi glamorous south and moved cross country in the middle of a recession to the practically cold and yet amazingly warmhearted city of Chicago. I moved to pursue my art, and finding myself unemployed mid recession in the Midwest, I quickly found that the term, starving artist, was no joke.

As most artists do while waiting for their art to start paying the bills, I pursued employment in any area I was slightly skilled or interested in. I had always been fascinated by fashion and am a decent writer, so when I saw an ad on Craigslist looking for a columnist for an online fashion magazine, I immediately responded. I submitted a few ideas for a column to an unnamed person via email, and the next thing I knew I was having coffee with a very young, very ambitious, very good-looking and very easily distracted man. Three double espressos later (on his part that is), I had tickets to every fashion show in town and he had a more solid business plan. We were the most perfect networking team to ever grace the tents of Chicago fashion, and we agreed that upon launch I would serve as editor. I decided my editorial column would be called "Art in Real Life." However, while visions of being the next Anna Wintour flitted through my head, apparently visions of a more parliamentary nature flitted through his. Thus our magazine, though conceived with passion, was never born due to politics. He ran for office and won, and fashion lost a good man.

Two years later, I am back in an odd paradox I call Houston, still looking for art in real life, and still realizing that no matter where I am, or what my circumstances are, art is always there for the observation and inhalation. To be an artist is to see. Ancient poets were called Seers. And because I was raised by a woman who lived through the Great Depression, I hate waste, and I am starting this blog to prevent waste and provide a home for the little unborn column. I figure anything with a name deserves a few moments of breath. So for what it's worth....