When people said, “wow you’ve grown,” my dad would joke that I’d stepped in fertilizer. I grew up in South Louisiana, a small town less than 50 miles from the Louisiana Gulf Coast in the heart of Acadiana. Although, my friends teased me because I’d tell people I was from New Iberia, the larger “small town” down the road. We lived on my dad’s Nursery or Tree Farm as some folks might like to call it. I spent my days barefoot and dirty, hiding from my parents who might make me work in the yard or help around the nursery if they saw me. When I was old enough to have a job I decided I might like to make a little extra money working at dad’s nursery. Along side the workers, I’d swat mosquitos and wasps and curse at the hot, wet Louisiana heat. I’d swear that I was never going to grow up and have a nursery much less work in one. Who in their right mind would ever want to have their hands in the dirt and spend all of their days outside!?
Fast-forward 25 years. I am a 40-year-old art teacher, childless with a business degree and all that matters to me in this world is being outside and playing in the dirt. A laundry list of things happened before I landed here as a Dirt bag Darling however. A total career regeneration, one failed marriage, one successful marriage, a move to New Orleans, a move home from New Orleans, infertility, surgery, an anxiety disorder, healing through food, a pandemic and finally another wake-up call. Its funny how there have been several wake-up calls throughout my journey, but when one of my students said so casually one day, “its funny how little plants grow out of the cracks,” something called me to action.
I’ve been making art and gardening for a while at this point. Both art and gardening have been healing for me throughout my 30s. What I always struggled with though, is finding a since of purpose in those activities. A deep purpose. One that made a difference. After all, with no children to leave my legacy with or to, what else would be better than leaving it with the plants, with the soil, with humanity. And that’s when Drawn to Grow was born. An idea that through my artwork I have a voice, a purpose and a message to share. My new work for 2022 is deeply rooted in food sovereignty, decentralization and regenerative agriculture but also in the dirt bag lifestyle of finding ways to reconnect with the land. Follow me on this journey as I create 57 drawings as an effort to bring awareness to these topics.