Art is a window. It is a glimpse into someone’s mind. Being an artist allows others into my point of view, which can be scary, but it is the very reason I am an artist: to communicate and create a community through the agreements, or disagreements, of instigated thought.

Art can connect. It is a language that communicates freedom to the mind through the constant practice of letting go and acceptance. Just like a novel holds someone’s history in words, a painting holds someone’s meaning in color. 

Art can create culture. An artist since childhood and always encouraged to explore, I spent my early twenties learning improvisation and communication. My late twenties were spent living in Asia and vagabonding across cultures. I put my hands in the dirt of other people’s gardens to learn how to sow my own. Now I am using my experiences to encourage a community to accept and practice the influences of community-based public art.

I returned to North Carolina and began my journey of entrepreneurship in art… specifically interactive art allowing others to get their hands dirty and set their minds free. Teaching sip-n-paint classes, while fun, were not speaking my message of letting go in the art. It was when I discovered how Puddle Painting allowed each participant to let go and be fully present in their creation did I know that I found my gift to the world.

The name “TuxedoKat” derives from my childhood cat, Blackie, a Tuxedo stray that wandered into my backyard when I was three. I prepared a spread of food to get him to stay and he never left my side for thirteen years. He would follow me when I would wander our country-street and he was always a bright purring friend when I needed a cuddle. His memory lives with intentions to share therapeutic art with the world.