The art piece that may be closest to my heart came out of a community art project my husband founded. As a veteran wife life can sometimes lose it’s color, the lows can be so low you don’t know if it will ever come around. You become familiar with the empty feeling of loss. We created Operation Sewing Hope, a quilt dedicated as a memorial to remembering veterans lost to suicide and to help their families to heal. I painstakingly sewed over a hundred, one of a kind fabric flowers which adorned a cherry blossom tree. This cherry blossom tree stands for peace and beauty and under its roots on the ground are personalized small quilts donated by families of those veterans lost to suicide. Operation Sewing Hope isn’t a stand alone project but a pivotal piece in our long term vision. We founded a nonprofit organization that works nonstop for helping veterans with mental health issues. Art has had a central role in my husbands and my journey, and we are working to set up a free use art studio for our veterans to receive art therapy. We know how healing and personally revolutionary art can be. This work has given me confidence in myself and my skills. I have been afraid of failure and going back to school after so many years but I’m now at the point where I am choosing to better myself and better my art. I’m excited for this opportunity to learn. The truth is after high school I tried to go to community college for art and was persuaded out of it by my own family. They didn’t believe in me, and maturing is I realized I don’t need their permission to be successful and do what I’m passionate about. After college I would like to be in a more central roll working with the community for our art projects and community outreach programs. My long term goal is to bring meaningful change to my community, and to make a difference with the veteran suicide epidemic. From a stay at home mom and homemaker to having something I made in multiple galleries has changed my life. That project is what inspired me to go and finally get my degree. That is what I love about art. It is a vehicle for change, it moves people, remembers, and lives on after the artist is gone.