I’m a self taught disabled award winning artist and illustrator and now an inspirational artist who has defeated death many times. My story is about all my hardships and miracles through art and faith. I was born with a rare genetic disorder called Maranoid Habitus and Elhers Danlos Syndrome diagnosed in 2015. I’m truly a walking miracle. My spine collapsed in 2005 and had to have another life saving surgery.  I have 28 titanium screws and two titanium rods holding my spine.  I survived two pulmonary embolisms. I’ve had to have many life-saving surgeries for my condition throughout my life. I also struggle with learning disabilities.  I began my art journey in 2015 at the age of 40 after experiencing a profound spiritual awakening and made my peace with God.

 

Before my spiritual awakening, I was angry with God. I'd endured multiple life-saving surgeries, struggled through school with learning disabilities, and felt lost without direction or purpose. I didn't know where  I belonged. Then in 2014, I discovered my ability to create art  and everything shifted. Art became my therapy, my anchor, my reason to keep fighting. After facing death so many times, I'd often wanted to give up.  But when I started creating in 2015, I finally found purpose. Slowly, piece by piece, I began to heal.

 

For most of my life, managing the health issues from my illnesses hasn't been easy.

The depression and anxiety were especially hard because none of the treatments doctors tried seemed to work.  I couldn't tolerate many of the medications they prescribed. The side effects were so severe I had to stop taking them, which made recovery even harder. It took years to find something I could actually tolerate. I've endured countless hospitalizations throughout my life and countless ER visits. Up until my spiritual awakening, I felt very suicidal.  It wasn’t until my diagnosis in 2015 and some of the medications that were actually working for my depression and anxiety that my life began to change.

 

Healing wasn't what I thought it would be. I wanted God to just fix the problem and move on. Instead, He went deeper. He worked on my heart. The surgeries hurt.

The waiting was long. But in that space, He taught me patience I  didn't have. He showed me how to stop relying on my own understanding and start relying on His grace. He gave me peace when there were no answers yet.

 

For a large part of my life, orthopedic braces were my reality. School meant bullying and teasing, and I often sank into depression. Isolated by both a lack of friends and learning disabilities, I spent years wondering what I was good at. For a very long time, I had no sense of purpose and no idea what my life could become.

 

 

Getting diagnosed in 2015 with Marfanoid Habitus and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome was a relief. For years, doctors dismissed my symptoms as imaginary. But the disorders were real. They gave me a rare form of scoliosis from birth and led to multiple corrective surgeries. In 2004, my spine started collapsing. By 2006, l needed life-saving surgery - 28 titanium screws and two rods now hold my back together. Those same disorders caused learning disabilities that made school a constant struggle.

 

For years I begged God to take the pain away. He didn't. Instead, He taught me to paint with it. I learned that healing isn't always the absence of hurt  sometimes it's the presence of purpose inside the hurt. My collapsed spine became the reason I picked up a brush. My embolisms became the reason I painted hope. The lesson? Your wound might be the window someone else looks through to see God.

 

Spirituality transformed my life. I now carry a deeper self-awareness, stronger emotional resilience, and genuine empathy for others. My focus shifted away from chasing approval and feeding my ego toward finding inner peace. I've learned to release anxiety, accept life's uncertainties, and live with purpose - connected to something far greater than myself.

 

The hardest part wasn't the pain. Pain you can brace for. It was the waiting. Waiting for test results. Waiting for doctors to believe me. Waiting for God to answer.  Healing taught me that waiting can break you faster than any diagnosis.

 

We are the experts of our own bodies. You are the experts of medicine. We need each other. Trust us when we say "something is wrong" even if the labs are normal. We are real. We are in your waiting rooms. And we deserve providers who've done their homework. If you don't know, say so. Then go learn. That's better than dismissal.

 

The medical system will gaslight you.

Family will misunderstand you. Your own brain will betray you some days. So you have to become your own lawyer. Bring the notebook. Ask the hard questions. Get the second opinion. Fire the doctor who doesn't listen. Say "no" to treatments that feel wrong in your gut. And stop apologizing for being sick.

 

I used to think faith was a transaction. If I'm good, God keeps me healthy. If I pray hard enough, He takes the pain away.

Illness bankrupted that theology. I was good. I prayed. The pain stayed. And in that silence, I met the real God.  I learned He's not after my performance. He's after my heart. I stopped begging for healing and started asking for Him. I don't love God because He fixed me. I love Him because He stayed.  I’m very grateful to God for giving me the ability to be able to create realistic art.

 

I enjoy depicting everything that I find beautiful such as people, children , pets, wildlife, landscapes, nature, still lives and botanicals. I don’t enjoy depicting everything I went through. I want people to feel peace and happiness when they look at my work not pain. I want my work to shed light in the world not darkness. My inability to ever have children due to my condition, inspires me to depict them. I'm also very inspired by old masters.  My deepest hope is that when someone sees my work, they feel a moment of peace. If even one brushstroke brings them happiness, a breath of calm, or a reminder that beauty still exists, then I've done what / set out to do.

 

I began exhibiting my art work in local  galleries and online in 2017. My work has been accepted in over 400 exhibits local and online international exhibits and I have received 370 awards so far. My works has been featured in 18 magazines. I also became one of the winners for the Every life Rare Disease art competition in Capitol Hill Washington DC in 2022.

 

Faith didn't just get me through  it remade me. When my body failed, spirituality gave me resilience I didn't have. It took my suffering and gave it meaning. And when I couldn't do anything for myself, it connected me to a God who was still in control. I threw myself into my art and it helped me with my healing. Giving my life real purpose.

 

I began painting and drawing in a realistic style. I was inspired to become an artist by child prodigy Akiane Kramarik who started painting at the age of four. She painted what has become one of the most recognized image of Jesus at the age of eight “The Prince of Peace”. I discovered her when I watched the movie Heaven is for real in 2014. Her story and the image of Jesus truly woke up the artist in me and it inspired me to keep fighting for my life. Akiane Kramarik's life story and the Prince of Peace painting led me to the beginning of a profound spiritual awakening. I was fortunate enough to have met  Akiane Kramarik and view the actual painting. When I was in front of the Prince of Peace painting I asked him in that moment to help me come off all the medications.  By early 2027 I will be completely medication free.

To me, this is a miracle that I thought would be impossible to achieve. My doctors are very amazed and cannot explain my recovery. They cannot believe how well I’m doing without taking so many medications. The withdrawals from coming off all the medications are very difficult, but even through the withdrawals I manage to still create art.

 

I enjoy depicting everything that I find beautiful such as people, children , pets, wildlife, landscapes, nature, still lives and botanicals. I don’t enjoy depicting everything I went through. I want people to feel peace and happiness when they look at my work not pain. I want my work to shed light in the world not darkness. My inability to ever have children due to my condition, inspires me to depict them. I'm also very inspired by old masters.  My deepest hope is that when someone sees my work, they feel a moment of peace. If even one brushstroke brings them happiness, a breath of calm, or a reminder that beauty still exists, then I've done what I set out to do.

 

I wasted years waiting for a pain-free day to start my life.  Waiting for the energy. Waiting for the answers. Waiting for the old me.

Illness taught me: the "someday" you're waiting for might not come. But this day is here. And you can live holy, beautiful, tiny moments inside it. A 5-minute painting. A text to a friend.  That's not "less than." That's life. Don't miss it waiting for "big" life to come back. You can build joy inside the pain. You don't need permission from your body.

 

For years I apologized for my existence."Sorry I'm slow." "Sorry I can't come.""Sorry I'm so much work." Illness made me small in my own story. Then one day, mid-withdrawal on my studio floor, I heard it "Stop apologizing for taking up space in a body I gave you." Illness taught me I don't have to shrink to be loved. I don't have to be easy to be worthy. Now I think of myself as an authority on survival. I'm not a victim of my body.

 

If you're in your own season of surgeries, waiting, or wondering where God is you don't have to be okay yet. Healing taught me to trade demands for grace. Look for tiny lights — one moment of peace, one kind word, one brushstroke. Create, even if it's messy. And remember: you don't walk alone. Reach out to your doctors, a counselor, a pastor, a safe friend. Your pain is real. But so is hope. Your story isn't over.  You can read my full story on this website.