Today’s shared story comes from Wendy Brightbill.
To me, doing what I love means doing something that I am so passionate about that I just can’t help doing it. It’s what I would do every single day of my life even if I didn’t get paid a single dime. I feel so fortunate and grateful to have found what I really love doing, creating art and inspiring women to find beauty in the broken places.
The path that led me to becoming an artist is a tad bit unconventional and involved my life unraveling at the seams before I could piece them back together. But the devastation I experienced and the trials I endured allowed me to discover my true passion and made me who I am today, an artist.
Growing up, I was always consumed with creating. My sister and I would spend hours colouring and drawing and gluing and taping. I took a few art classes in high school and learned to draw. I was even pretty good at it. But I never saw myself as an artist, just that I was good at art. There is a difference.
I went on to teach Kindergarten, what I always thought I was meant to do. And there were aspects of teaching that I absolutely loved. I loved being creative and coming up with new curriculum. I loved the actual teaching and the fulfillment of watching my students learn. But there were so many parts of teaching that were very difficult, and just not me. I soon became weighed down by the amount of expectations placed on me. I grew very disillusioned with being a teacher and made a decision to quit in search of finding what I was really passionate about. I thought that meant going into business for myself but I really had no idea what was right around the corner.
The summer after I quit teaching, my life took a complete detour. A heart breaking, life-falling-apart detour. I was rear-ended in a car accident. The unraveling began with chronic pain and a brain injury. And slowly I watched as everything in my life came apart. We lost our home and experienced financial ruin. I was depressed and paralyzed by fear. My personality changed. I went from operating primarily from my left brain to being forced to use my right brain more. It has taken me years to fully recover and heal from this tragedy and I am still on this path of healing.
Art became a huge part of my healing process. At my lowest point, my mother gave me a copy of Kelly Rae Roberts book Taking Flight. My heart came alive as I was able to express my heart and my journey in ways that I never even thought possible. The messy free flowing nature of mixed media art truly spoke to my broken brain. I started making new connections in my brain and found that I could actually be more creative than I had ever been. What used to be difficult to my left brained self, flowed out of my paintbrush with ease and heart. I found the me who had always been there but could not come out until my brain injury. And I found a deep and lastly purpose in what I was doing.
I started my business A Girl and Her Brush where I create and sell art, blog, teach local art classes, teach an online class, write articles for national magazines and share my story with women all over the world. Last year I was published in four different Stampington magazines. And I started teaching again. I love that all the aspects I enjoyed about teaching I now get to do all the time without the parts that felt yucky.
I have big dreams for the future. I want to become licensed as an artist. I would love to write a book about my story. And one day I would love to open a studio where I would have big artists come from all over the world to teach classes and inspire women.
Looking back, I never expected that my brain injury would launch me into a life of doing what I love. I am so grateful that I was open to finding my passions and didn’t miss this creative calling.
[All images courtesy of Wendy Brightbill.]
