Carina Imbrogno
My name is Carina Imbrogno and I'm a self-taught award-winning artist and illustrator. I would like to share my miracle story with everyone I can possibly reach to help inspire and give them hope. I am truly a walking miracle defeating death many times. I’m becoming an inspirational artist, and I have made it my life mission to share my story and my art. It’s one way of me paying it forward for all the miracles I’ve had in my journey. I truly believe that God is keeping me alive so I can share my story with the world.
I was born on November 1st, 1974, in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Italian immigrants. My parents grew up in Rose, Cosenza, a town located in the mountains of Calabria Italy. They grew up in extreme poverty and only had a third-grade education. My parents got married in 1954 and shortly after they were married my mom became pregnant with her first child. My mom was eight months pregnant when she received the news that my paternal grandfather had suddenly passed away from a heart attack. My parents were remarkably close to him and my mom took the news very hard. My grandfather's death was so devastating to my mom that she gave birth to a stillborn baby girl soon after. Unable to find steady work in Italy they migrated to Buenos Aires Argentina in 1958.
By the time my parents moved to Buenos Aires, my mother became pregnant with her second child Maria Francesca. Shortly after arriving to Argentina, my father managed to get a job as a crematory operator at the Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires. He also did mason work as a side job which was the trade he learned in Italy. After being laid off from the crematorium in 1975 and unable to find steady work to support the family, my father made the decision to come to the US. With the help of a few of his siblings who lived in Stamford Connecticut my father made the move. Stamford Connecticut is where I currently reside.
My father was able to find full time work as a mason. He lived with his older brother while working very hard to save money. By 1978 he was able to rent a house and buy plane tickets for us to move to Stamford with him. As soon as we arrived to the US I had to immediately go to the hospital for scoliosis treatments at Newington children hospital in Hartford Connecticut. I was born with kyphoscoliosis discovered at the age of 2. In 2015 I was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Elher's Danlos Syndrome kyphoscoliosis type.
I am the youngest of nine children. My second oldest sister Maria Francesca passed away as a toddler at 14 months old. This was another tragic time in my parents lives. We are now three girls and four boys, and I am the youngest. Shortly after they arrived in Stamford, my mother got a job as a housekeeper at Stamford hospital. About a year after working as a housekeeper, my mother had an accident. She was making one of the hospital's electrical beds and it malfunctioned causing the bed to fall on her left arm crushing her nerves. Unfortunately, my mom landed in the hands of a greedy horrible doctor who performed a lot of unnecessary surgeries leaving my mom disabled.
School was particularly challenging for me. I was bullied and teased by other kids due to my very slim physique and a noticeable rib hump. I was also very shy, making it difficult to make friends. As I grew older my rib hump became more prominent and more noticeable, so I grew my hair long to try to hide it. When I started kindergarten, the teachers noticed I had learning disabilities making it hard to retain what I learned therefore I was placed in special education classes. As I got older, I discovered I also had ADHD.
I began wearing orthopedic braces and body casts when I began my treatments that started at the age of 4 until the age of 12 and then again as an adult. The cast and braces were supposed to slow down the rate of my curvature. I had my first open back surgery in the summer of 1985 at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. My spine was collapsing so fast I was having trouble breathing so I had to go for emergency surgery. The doctors told us that I needed emergency open back surgery because my ribs were collapsing on my lungs at a fast rate. Because of this I began to have a difficult time breathing and was only able to walk short distances. By this time, I had a curve of 95 degrees on top and a bottom curve of 70 degrees forming an S shape. I was also starting to collapse inward. Doctors explained to my family that I had a deadly type of kyphoscoliosis and without surgery I would completely collapse leaving me in a wheelchair and then facing a painful death. My family was in such fear that the doctors went ahead with my first surgery. I remember the fear of the surgery caused me a few horrible nightmares.
A few days before I was scheduled for the surgery, my sister Maria Francesca appeared in my dream. She was around my age and her hair and face resembled me. She told me she was my sister Maria Francesca. I remember this dream so vividly. She appeared wearing this beautiful white dress and had these beautiful white wings. She told me not to be afraid because she was one of my angels and was watching over me. When I woke up, I felt an indescribable sense of peace. I went into surgery with no fear.
The doctors fused my vertebrates and placed a Herrington rod to stop my spine from curving any further. Unfortunately, the doctors didn't achieve the correction that was expected to straighten my spine. After the surgery I had a curve of 56 degrees on top and 40 degrees at the bottom and no correction for my rib hump. After being discharged from the hospital a couple of weeks later, I began having complications.
A few days after being sent home from the hospital, I developed an extremely high fever. My family took me to our primary physician, and he discovered a lump on my back. A massive infection was forming from the surgery. The infection was so severe that I was hospitalized for three months with the strongest intravenous antibiotics. With my entire family praying for me I miraculously survived.
Over time the Herrington rod that was placed in my back began giving me problems. By the time I was 18 the rod had somehow moved out of place and doctors thought it was causing my migraine headaches forcing me to quit a semester from school. I finally had to go for another surgery to remove part of the rod. My migraine headaches finally went away. However, I still struggled with my severe and painful rib hump and had low self-esteem because of it for a very long time. In 1988 my father decided to retire from his job as a mason. He bought a small 11 until motel with a two-bedroom apartment in Hallandale Florida and we lived off the rent money until 1998. I then attended Hallandale High School.
Regardless of all my learning disabilities and limitations, I tried extremely hard in high school while getting very little sleep to try to get my homework finished and study for exams. I was fortunate to have had nice teachers who would help me, so I managed to get good grades. In high school I excelled in biology, but art was always my passion, so I enrolled in all the art classes. My high school art teacher Mr. Payne encouraged me enter art competitions and I won some of them and received a number of awards. Because of all my hard work I managed to graduate with honors and in the top ten percent of my class. I knew I wanted to do something creative after I graduated high school, so I tried fashion design.
I was accepted into a small fashion design program at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale where I received an associate degree and received the Future Designer Award. To my disappointment pattern making and sewing was extremely hard on my spine and back causing me a lot of back pain. I knew it would be very difficult for me to pursue fashion design as a career, so I decided to try something else. In 1996, I was accepted to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City to study textile surface design.
I was extremely excited to attend FIT since I always loved New York City. I was accepted with the highest marks. I began discovering even more my artistic ability. I discovered that I was able to create and paint very intricate patterns. I was doing so well that I was selected to study abroad and attended Winchester School of art for a semester in 1997. I received a Bachelor’s degree of fine arts in textile surface design in 2000 with a grade point average of 3.8. Shortly after I graduated, I found a job as a textile surface designer in New York City and got married to a man I had met five years prior when I lived in Florida.
My husband was from Casablanca, Morocco. We had lost touch but became in touch a year before we got married. Sadly, I found myself in a toxic and abusive relationship with this person. He began abusing prescription drugs and alcohol. I never used or tried drugs or alcohol so for me this behavior was unacceptable. His substance abuse became so out of control that he would end up quitting his jobs and in some jobs, he would get fired. When he was under the influence of substances, he would become verbally abusive. A few years later he became physically abusive. I also discovered that he was being unfaithful leaving a woman pregnant while we were married. The stress of this relationship caused me to have coronary spasms.
With the diagnosis of coronary spasms, the doctors put me on nitroglycerin. In one of my husband's drunk rages, he threw out some of the artwork and awards that I won in High School and at FIT. I decided to leave my husband after four years of marriage and moved back with my parents. Six months later I was able to come off the nitroglycerin completely. Shortly after I separated from my husband, I was diagnosed with endometriosis. I had to have four painful abdominal surgeries in the course of 8 years. I had complications during the second surgery and took months to recover. It was a very painful illness to endure. On January of 2004 I had a dream with God.
In my dream God appeared to me as this bright golden shimmering light. God told me in my dream not to be afraid that He was God. Throughout the dream I kept feeling this indescribable sense of love and peace flowing through me coming from the beautiful, incredible golden shimmering light I was seeing. I felt God cradling me and taking me down this beautiful path. While going down the path he told me that I would still go through many more difficult trials in my journey, but in the end, I would survive, and he would always be with me to protect me. He then began telling me jokes. I then realized that God has an amazing sense of humor, and he knew how much I love comedy and laughter. I remember saying to him “God you tell jokes?” He responded, “where do you think they come from?” I smiled and we both laughed as we continued walking down the path and then I woke up. Right after my dream I had my first endometriosis surgery.
On August of 2004 I decided to have surgery to correct my prominent rib deformity that was always causing me pain and low self-esteem. The surgery took place in Miami and unfortunately, I fell in the hands of a bad doctor. Dr. O'Brien was a spine specialist who lied about his experience with my type of deformity resulting in an unsuccessful surgery. His malpractice almost cost me my life and disabled me even more. I had complications and had to be hospitalized for three months. He removed the Harrington rod and didn't manage to fix my ribs correctly, so my spine began collapsing again at a fast rate. My ribs were now sticking out in the front forcing me to have to wear a brace again to be able to walk and had to take strong narcotics to control what resulted in unbearable pain. He also caused me unrepairable nerve damage to my rib hump.
The unsuccessful surgery forced me to quit my job as a makeup artist in a solon in Boca Raton. The doctor refused to take any responsibility for what he did calling me mentally unstable. When I called the hospital to access my records, they were not able to locate them anywhere. They could not explain what had happened. So I came to the conclusion that he got rid of all me x-rays and all my before and after photos that he took so I wouldn’t be able to sue him. I was once again facing a life in a wheelchair and then a painful death. Trying to find a doctor to help me became extremely challenging.
I traveled to many different states with my oldest sister Ana whom I have always been very close to growing up and my youngest brother Daniel to try to find a doctor that would help me. I needed a lifesaving surgery to reconstruct my spine and ribs. We were turned away by every doctor because it would cost over $500,000 to perform the surgery that wasn't covered by Connecticut state insurance. To even attempt the surgery, we needed to come up with 70 percent of the money. As my spine collapsed more and more, I became bedridden less than a year later. The pain was so severe that I was highly medicated with narcotics, making weekly visits to the ER for IV morphine for over a year. At this time, I was highly medicated and in severe pain and I began feeling hopeless and suicidal.
I was so upset that no one would help me because I could not afford the surgery that I took an entire bottle of Tylenol. I regretted it right after I took them remembering my dream with God. At this time, I was staying with my sister Ana who lives in Stamford. She rushed me to the Stamford hospital ER where I had my stomach pumped. By the summer 2006 I had a side curve of 119 degrees now forming a C shape and a concave curve of 120 degrees and having a difficult time breathing and walking. I became do disabled that it forced me to apply for disability. In early 2006 I applied for disability and housing since I could no longer hold a job and support myself. My disability was approved 18 months later, and I was placed on a long waiting list for housing.
In late summer of 2006, I had this vivid dream where I was laying on the floor in a fetal position crying in pain. All of a sudden, a white light filled being appeared and put his hand through me and straighten my spine. In my dream I was able to stand up and I walked away. My family were praying for me so much. My second oldest sister Marcela, who lives in Florida did so much praying and I am forever grateful to her. About two weeks after I had this dream, my third oldest brother Rick found a doctor in Texas who performed my life saving surgery. I am incredibly grateful to my sister Ana and Rick for all her support during this extremely difficult time. Ana took me to Baylor Hospital in Plano Texas where I met Dr. Alexis Shelokov.
Dr. Shelokov was one of only a few dozen surgeons in the United States who regularly performed reconstructive spinal surgery for scoliosis. Many of whom had had unsuccessful treatment in the past. He performed over 6,000 operations all over the world, bringing hope to many who suffered from severe spinal deformities, spinal tumors, and degenerative diseases of the spine.
After meeting Dr. Shelokov, he assured me that he could help me and his financial team had me write to the hospital explaining my situation. In the letter I begged them to save my life. A month later I was approved for surgery free of charge. On November 13, 2006 I was scheduled for my life saving surgery. Before surgery Dr. Shelokov said to me that I one day would become an artist after telling him how much I loved art and he gave me the biggest hug and I went into surgery. He was a true angel.
Alexis Shelokov was able to correct my collapsed spine and rib disaster caused by Dr. O'Brien. He placed two rods and 26 screws holding my spine and corrected the deformity. The surgery lasted nearly 12 hours, and I grew five inches from the correction and once again I survived. When I looked in the mirror, I truly didn't recognize myself. The surgery went really well without any complications. Dr. Shelokov did warn me that he would most likely need to place a halo around my head if I was unable to hold my head up. It is difficult to hold your head up until I healed. Sure enough I was having a hard time keeping me head up. A halo is a procedure that involves attaching a metal ring to the skull. My very spiritual sister Marcela after hearing this prayed so heavily for me that a couple of days before I was scheduled to get the halo placed, I began holding my head up and avoided the procedure. The team of doctors, including Dr. Shelokov were all in such shock and honestly so was I. I now have a curve of only 20 degrees and no rib deformity and able to walk normally.
The success of my surgery was called a miracle by Dr. Shelekov and his entire team. I was known by Dr. Shelokov as his miracle patient. I became a local known and was interviewed by a few local news networks. I found out a couple of years ago that until this day I am the only person who has ever received such a large charity by Baylor Hospital.
I am eternally grateful to Baylor Hospital and Dr. Shelokov for their compassion and charity. It truly restored my faith in humanity. Up until his untimely death, I helped Dr. Shelokov ease his patients into surgery as one way of paying it forward. Dr. Shelokov passed away in 2009 from a sudden heart attack while he was on vacation with his family at the age of 55. This news left me completely devastated. About six months after his passing, I found out that Dr. O'Brien from Miami became one of the doctors taking Dr. Shelokov's place. I was infuriated with this news. In my opinion, he was a bad doctor and didn't deserve to be there. I immediately called the hospital and expressed my feelings and opinions towards allowing him to be part of their spine center. I then had them send me all my records and never returned. I found out a few years ago that Dr. O'Brien passed away in 2020.
It was a real challenge to get off of all the narcotics and medications I was on for nearly three years, but I was determined to get off everything. Shortly after coming off all the pain killers which took over a year, I went into early menopause. I started to suffer from horrible crippling anxiety that eventually led to a horrible depression. At this time, I was working part time as a beauty consultant for Clinique. I really enjoyed my job and once again my condition forced me to quit my job after one year. I now realize that it was caused by all the narcotics I was on for so long. The doctors advised me to try antidepressants. I was having a very hard time finding a medication I could actually tolerate due to the horrific side effects that they caused me.
Since the doctors couldn’t find anything, I could tolerate, a psychiatrist recommended ECT. After a few rounds of it I started to feel worse. I began experiencing more anxiety and caused me insomnia for over a month. For me this experience was truly horrific, and it was a decision I truly regret. My coping mechanism has always been comedy, music. I had lost all inspiration, so I did very little art. I watched a lot of comedy and cooking shows since I love to cook even though I wasn't able to do it at this time. At this time, I was living with my second oldest brother Oscar and his family in his fixed basement. I developed crippling stomach issues making it hard to function. My depression and anxiety got so bad that I spent many years feeling hopeless and became bedridden once again.
Amidst all this suffering one day I got a letter in the mail saying I was next on the list to rent a small apartment for people with disabilities in Stamford, CT where I had applied in 2006. I was thrilled with this news since I had waited for so long for this opportunity. I was happy to be getting my own apartment, but at the same time I was scared to move due to these health issues. Regardless of my situation I still took a chance and moved to my own apartment by Christmas of 2013. where I found some independence. In May of 2014 I watched the movie Heaven is For Real and my life began to change. My artistic inspiration slowly began to return.
In this movie I discovered the artist Akiane Kramarik’s life and work which inspired me to become an artist and illustrator. Akiane Kramarik is a child prodigy who painted the image of Jesus at the tender age of eight. The painting is titled "The Prince of Peace". There is an incredible story behind this painting. Seeing the Prince of Peace for the first time in the movie inspired me to want to pick up a pencil and brush and start drawing and painting. I was so incredibly impressed and fascinated with her story and work that it woke up my artistic side of me once again. Akiane paints images from heaven. The Prince of Peace is her most famous painting, and it has become one of the most recognized image of Jesus in the entire world. The Prince of Peace sold almost $1000,000 in 2019 after it was recovered. I will tell this incredible story on my website. A gallery in his honor was built in 2022 In Marble Falls Texas called the Beloved Gallery housing the Prince of Peace along with Akiane's twelve other paintings. Discovering Akiane Kramarik helped me my true purpose and helped save my life once again.
By 2014 I was so ill that I could not stay hydrated caused by severe nausea and unable to keep food down and unable to tolerate medications. I went from 135 pounds down to 92 pounds by October of 2014. Going through this was so difficult. Many times, I would dehydrate and end up in the ER with IV fluids. One of My FIT teachers, Susan, whom I remained in touch with over the years advised me to go to Mount Sinai in New York City. I spent my 40th birthday in Mount Sinai again fighting to live.
I spent my 40th birthday in Mount Sinai and my sister Ana emailed me a birthday e-card with the song My Wish by the Rascals Flatts. This song gave me strength to continue fighting to live. While at the hospital, I kept thinking about my dream with God and discovering Akiane and her incredible life and the Prince of Peace painting. It was my strength to continue fighting. I promised God on the day of my birthday if he saved my life once again, I would become an artist. I promised I would not let anything stop me.
They put me on various medications that I was tolerating which in the beginning helped with the crippling anxiety and depression. Slowly I began drinking and eating again and was sent home a few weeks later. I was on a lot of medications for many years that included anti-depressants, sleeping pills muscle relaxers, mood stabilizer, anxiety medications including medical marijuana. A week after being discharged from the hospital I came down with my first pulmonary embolism and once again landed in Stamford hospital for another week. After all kinds of tests, the doctors were not able to find the cause or any explanation for the pulmonary embolism. I was put on blood thinners for one years and once again I survived.
I began my artistic journey on January of 2015 with the financial help of my dear friend Dave to buy my art supplies. I began to teach myself how to draw and paint. I discovered that my style is photorealism and I discovered my true artistic ability that I didn't even know existed. I discovered that I can work in many different mediums such as gouache, dyes, watercolors, color pencil, graphite, acrylics, oils and soft pastels. My medium of choice is soft pastels. What I enjoy the most is depicting portraits and nature.
I started drawing highly realistic portraits of children after I began volunteering in a daycare in 2015 doing arts and crafts with children twice a week until Covid happened. My own inability to ever have children inspired me to learn about kids and then got inspired to draw them as well. I enjoy drawing various subjects such as portraits of wild life animals, pets, people, children, botanicals, nature and landscapes. I don't wish to depict all the pain and suffering I went through. I prefer to depict what inspires me instead. I believe we have enough darkness and sadness in the world as it is. I want those that view my work to experience beauty and a sense of peace and love.
On June 22, 2018 my beloved 31 year old nephew Reese whom I was close to committed suicide. This was a very dark time for me and my family. We were really close, and his death made me lose my artistic inspiration for a short time. My sister cheered me up hoping I would get my inspiration back took me to see Paula Abdul in concert for my birthday and encouraged me to draw Paula a portrait. Even though I wasn't a VI, I was lucky enough to have been able to meet her backstage and give her a realistic portrait of Paula and her beloved dog Bessie that I drew In graphite. You can read the full story how it all happened on my website. I never thought I would have the opportunity to meet her that night and give her the portrait. It was truly an incredible unforgettable experience.
I’m very grateful for the connections I’ve made through social media. I got very inspired by this very gifted self-taught wild life artist Richard Macwee based in Scotland. He has become one of my very best friend. Richard can work in any medium but his medium of choice is pastels. He has created his own style which is truly remarkable. You can read more about Richard on my website. His incredible talent has truly inspired me to try pastels in 2019. I fell in love with pastels and created over 100 works of art since I started. I'm very grateful and so blessed to have this incredible friendship. We met shortly after my nephew untimely death. He truly helped me get my artistic inspiration back. I am hoping that when things get better for both of us financially, we will be able to finally meet in person.
In 2018 I became good friends with Elyse who is an incredibly gifted artist and spiritualist who helped me open my spiritual side even more. She has been such an amazing role model and incredible support in my life. Her guidance has been such a blessing since I met her. With Elyse's help I discovered the book You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L. Hay. She has a variety of self-help books and audios. Because of my reading disability I began listening to her audios and it is the best cognitive therapy I've ever done. Since then, I have been working harder on self-love and self-healing and working even more on spiritual growth.
Spiritual growth has become a big part of my life. In this journey, I discovered so many amazing people that have become a source of inspiration and true role models. I discovered Ismael Perez who is a cosmic ambassador and a galactic historian. He is the author of two incredible books which helped me so much in my spiritual growth. Elyse began opening my eyes to the dangers of high doses of pharmaceuticals, especially psychiatric medications when you are on them for a long time. After experiencing a second pulmonary embolism on March 2021, with no explanation of the cause. I then took Elyse's advice very seriously and began my own investigation.
After a lot of research and investigation I realized that the medications I was put on was contributed to my two pulmonary embolisms. I went against my doctors and began very slowly weaning myself off all my medications. It has been extremely difficult and some days very debilitating. Today I am off 95% of all my medications. With God’s continued help I plan to be completely medication free in 2025. Since I came off of nearly all of my medications, I have been feeling more energetic and a lot clearer headed. I am able to focus better, and my memory improved. I noticed my creative side blossoming even more. I even began teaching myself to paint realistically in acrylics. I now challenge myself even more than before. I have also discovered that I have a passion for filmmaking which I have recently began exploring. I have been able to teach myself how to create short videos of my artwork. I created over 50 videos of my art working using photographs I took of my work over the years with my phone. You can view them on my website.
These medications not only caused me two pulmonary embolisms but also caused me to develop a condition called Barrette's esophagus and severe gastritis. I began taking a more holistic approach. Mostly through a clean organic diet and herbal remedies which have truly worked wonders for me. When I survived a second pulmonary embolism it became even more clear to me that I am alive to inspire others through my story and my art.
My pastels drawings resemble paintings. I work with a lot of high details, so my work looks highly realistic resembling a photograph. Each work of art takes me many hours to complete. My work in pastels can take anywhere from 40 to 300 hours to complete depending on the size and the complexity of the drawing. Since I began my art in 2015, I have created over 150 works of art. I began entering local exhibits and during Covid I began entering international art competitions online. I have been accepted and received recognition in over 400 exhibitions and so far I have won over 300 awards. Part of my story has been published in various online sites since 2017 and so far my work has been featured in 15 art magazines.
I'm so honored and so blessed to the EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases in Capitol Hill Washington DC for choosing me as one of the winners at the EveryLife art competition award for 2022. I entered and won with a piece in pastels titled A Mother's love. The inspiration to create this piece came from my inability to have children due to my illness. I used to be prochoice for many years and after realizing what an abortion actually is I became prolife. A Mother's Love has won 15 awards in local and international competitions and has been featured in four magazines so far. It has been such an honor to have been able to go to Capitol Hill on March 2023 and be part of this incredible exhibit. The EveryLife foundation for rare diseases is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering the rare disease patient community to advocate for impactful, science-driven legislation and policy that advances the equitable development of and access to lifesaving diagnoses, treatments, and cures. During my visit at Capitol Hill, I asked the Senators of Connecticut and sent them emails to help me with creating a program that would help the disabled artist community with low income afford quality art supplies since they are so expensive. I am hoping that one day they will get back to me with their support.
It would be a dream to create a program that would help disabled artists with low income to buy quality art supplies at a reduced cost. I believe it would truly help disabled artists to motivate them to explore their creativity. I have found that for me art helps me with depression and anxiety, and it truly helps me cope with my disabilities and limitations. Lowering the cost would give those with a low income, an opportunity to afford art supplies so they can express their creativity as a form of therapy. Art supplies have gotten so expensive in the past few years. With the cost of living being so high the past four years, art supplies have become extremely difficult to afford. I remain hopeful that with the new administration this dream will one day become a reality.
On February 16, 2023, one of my biggest dreams finally came true after nine years of dreaming of this moment. I got to meet Akiane Kramarik and I got to thank her in person for inspiring me to become an artist. If was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. You can read the full story of how it all happened on this site. There have been so many influential people in my life and I'm hoping to be able to meet them all in person one day.
I began creating portraits of those who have inspired me throughout my life. I started with my mom who has been such an incredible source of strength throughout my life. She taught me good moral values and raised to always believe in God and in Jesus and in the angels. My mom was a true angel in my life who has helped me in more ways than I can possibly describe.
I would love one day to have the opportunity to meet President Donald J. Trump in person. I did not know a lot about President Trump until I started to do my own investigation about him about eight years ago. I began listening to his interviews and watched a lot of his rallies and formed my own opinions about him instead of listening to the media. I cannot begin to describe how much he has inspired me. His strength, persistence, resilience and dedication to make America better than ever before are qualities that has helped me in my own life. He has a huge heart and I find him to be extremely intelligent, genuine and authentic. He also has the most amazing sense of humor. After seeing him take a bullet for this country, I knew it was time to create a portrait for him based upon my favorite picture of him wrapped around the American flag. The portrait is a soft pastel drawing 18x22 in size and 30x26 framed. It took me nearly 225 hours to complete and I did it while still coming off a number of very powerful medications. I started the painting on July 14, 2024, and I was able to finally complete it on November 6 of 2024. The day he was elected President. It would be a true honor and dream come true to be able to meet him in person one day and hand him the original framed drawing as a token of my admiration, appreciation, and gratitude for everything that he is doing for America.
I’m also hoping one day I can meet Elon Musk. I have admired Elon Musk for many years. He is a brilliant person in so many ways. It's really fascinating to me that he is building rockets making his mission to reach Mars a reality. I have always been fascinated with the idea of humans going to Space one day. It's a big dream and an it would be an absolute honor to be able to meet Elon and personally hand him the pastel painting depicting Elon Musk going to Mars that I created in 2022 and thank him for his contribution to humanity. The pastel drawing won a Special Merit Award in the Northern Light Gallery in 2023. You can view the artwork on my gallery.
Another big dream I have is to be able to meet political commentator Candace Owens. I discovered her YouTube podcast shortly after losing my dad to heart issues on October 2021 and three months later losing my mom to a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. It was a very hard time for me and discovering Candace Owens was truly a gift from God. I discovered that she grew up in Stamford Connecticut and attended Stamford High school at the same time as my deceased nephew Reese. I have learned so much by listening to her podcast daily. She is an incredible beautiful soul with integrity who isn't afraid to speak the truth of what is really going on. I find her to be extremely articulate and brave. She has inspired me so much in so many ways and I have and continue to learn so much from her. She has opened my eyes to so many truths about politics and the important things taking place in the world in general. If I ever have the opportunity to meet her in person, I want to thank her and give her the biggest hug for everything she is doing to help humanity and hand her a portrait as a token of my gratitude.
I feel I am being guided by God and many angels who have given me the strength do endure everything I have been through and share my story. With the help of God and his team of angels I have been able to ground myself and remain optimistic. I am incredibly grateful and blessed to be alive and doing so well regardless of my condition. I am truly fortunate to have migrated with my family to the US. I am very hopeful for the future, and I hope to be able to continue to share my miraculous inspirational story.
