Art and Finding Myself Again

This past fall of 2025, I started to go through an identity crisis. There is no other way to describe it. I am in my early 50's and have been perimenopausal for a couple of years now. That emotional, physical, and hormonal rollercoaster is a challenge alone for most women in this stage of their lives. I also lost one of my most favorite activities that had been part of my life for the last almost 20 years. 

Those last 20 years, I trained dogs and competed in various different venues of dog sports. Everyone knew me as a dog trainer and a dog sport enthusiast and that is how I defined myself. I have a Springer Spaniel boy who is injured with a ligament tear in his knee and will most likely need surgery to repair it. My other girl Springer Spaniel has a very soft temperament and can be fearful in certain situations which doesn't lend well to competitive dog sports. There won't be a new dog to help fill that void for a good while. 

But I am an artist…always have been and I’m damn good one too. This has always been under the dog training stuff. It’s just me and my art supplies with this and I’m going to funnel all of that drive I have into this for a while. While I’ll always be a dog trainer…and some day, I’ll run agility with a dog again. It may not be Gracie and it won’t ever be Jones, it will be another dog in the future. Until then, there will be my art.