When I was 17 my brother asked me what I wanted to go to school for. The only thing I ever wanted to do was art. He told me I wasn’t good enough to make any money as an artist, so I should go into computers—that’s where all the money to be made was.
Unfortunately, I believed him, but I didn’t go into computers—and I wasn’t all that hooked on the life “money” could buy. I received an academic scholarship to our local community college, and I studied all the boring academic “basics” not knowing what I wanted to do since I “couldn’t” do what I wanted. I graduated two years later with an associate degree, a husband, and my first son.
The next seven years brought three more sons and a house full of creativity. But it took me almost 30 years to shake off the doubt my brother had planted inside of me. If you’re someone who has known me for any length of time, your mouth might be hanging open in disbelief right now—you might ask yourself how someone SO creative could’ve ever believed something so…blatantly wrong.
Well, it was the early 90’s, and I didn’t have anybody else telling me anything different. Not my parents—who thought I had it all figured out, not my teachers (not even my art teacher!), not my friends, who were busy wrestling with their own uncertain futures. As my boys grew, the internal motivation to “create” never stopped. I even tried to get my head back in the illustration game when I started writing stories 20 years ago. Unfortunately, that ended in many bouts of frustration, and I gave up. But the urge to illustrate my own stories never left me.
Finally, during the covid years (at least one good thing came out of it!) I went back to church. I picked up my Bible again. I started to trust that God would guide me in the direction he wanted me to go. I started practicing, and practicing, and practicing. I didn’t give up. I took some classes. I got some encouragement. I found my illustration voice, I gained confidence, I left perfectionism behind, I started selling my illustrations and paintings (people actually DID like them!), and God sent me a new friend who made a world of difference.
The culmination of the past four years is my new book, Wojer and the Wizard of the Wood. This is the first story (written ten years ago and put on the shelf) in a series of stories in a wonderful world known as Fox Hollow. Settled between two lush green valleys is the village of Fox Hollow, but this ideal American village is not your typical town. Each resident of Fox Hollow brings forth the charm of small-town living, reflects a passion to pursuit their dreams, and adds a touch of faithful wonder to everyday life.
Shop Fur & Feather Friends here: Jennifer Carson, Fur & Feather Friends (furandfeatherfriends.com)
