Becoming a Groves: New life in Iowa

In 2008 my artist career with Trader Joe's ended when I married and moved to Iowa, close to where my husband grew up. My husband is a truely inspiring man who builds, creates, sings, writes music and words, teaches, dreams and loves me well. I can hear him now, pounding away with a hammer while he builds the new boy's dorm. (We live and work at a Camp and Retreat Center) We have enjoyed carving out life together.

Now it was time to find my place as an artist outside of Trader Joe's. I quickly learned how limited I was. The only medium I felt comfortable in was chalk. I LOVE CHALK! I set to work buying masonite hardboard, spraying on chalkboard and purchasing my own set of Nupastels. It was fun creating illustrations with out text or prices. I did a couple commissions like Meg's Horses and Adam's Nova.

I quickly learned the pros and cons of working with chalk:

PROS
I can think in chalk
I feel comfortable in chalk
I have a unique style

CONS
Difficult to frame
Can't find a fixative that works
Can't scan the image
Can't take a good digital picture
Can't make a print with the resources I have....

I continued to produce chalkboards and my husband graciously framed them. I even did a cover illustration for a harp lesson book, "A Harp for Christmas"

Still, I felt like I needed to move on and force myself to learn a more practical, manageable art form. So I started with watercolor, something so opposite of chalk, that it would force me to grow.