Hi, I am Lesa and I’m an Artist! It feels so strange and a dream come true to be able to say I am an Artist. For 20 years I have supported my husband in his career and my 5 children in achieving their goals, and like many stay at home moms my dreams were their dreams. Now that I’m 45 I needed to figure out what my dreams were!

My husband was about to retire from the Army, my youngest was starting full time school and I finally had time to go back to work. I updated a resume and started looking for jobs. Then Covid hit and everything shut down. My kids came back home and I now became a full-time teacher in addition to all my other responsibilities.

I searched inside my soul and remembered I had always loved painting. When my babies where younger I would watch PBS shows such as Bob Ross and think, “I bet I can do that!” I got really good at One Stroke Painting and even taught a community class at Oregon State University. Through out the years I had taken a few classes but finding time and constantly moving as a military wife I could never truly develop my talents. Painting is where I found my happiness, my awareness, my love for life and the world around me.

As I was sheltered at home, I started watching YouTube tutorials on acrylic paintings and I picked up my brushes and sparked my passion again. I found myself in a local store talking to the owner and showing her my art. She asked if I wanted to do a show for her store. I remember walking out of that store thinking what have I just done! I needed to have 30 paintings ready in 2 months for the show. I was super excited and extremely nervous!

Things have been going extremely fast and I am so grateful for my community here in Fairbanks. I have been on the front page of the local paper and was featured in a segment on our local news channel. I didn’t think I could make a career with my art but here I am striving to make that dream a reality! I want to be an example to older women—those who find themselves at a crossroad. The empty nesters. Those who feel they are too old to start living their dreams. It’s never too late to follow your passions. I will tell you what I tell my kids, “ If you don’t try you will never succeed!”