Where one story ends, a second story begins…
Well, if you want to know the real story of why I began painting…here ya go. Things are about to get REAL real over here :)
Second Story Art was born from a dream I didn’t know I had, from hope I thought I’d lost, and from healing I found in a most unexpected place. For about a ten-year span, my husband and I dealt with the whole scope of infertility stuff. It was a pretty rough time. Who knew becoming a parent could be so hard? By God’s grace, we were blessed to have had two healthy daughters, but we also lost two babies.
Sad and frustrated, I called my husband and asked if he would grab a canvas and some paints for me on his way home and I would try to paint something pretty for our house. That night, I laid a towel down on my bedroom floor, leaned the canvas up against my dresser, and went to town.
I started painting and I basically haven’t stopped since. Through that first painting, God opened up a new lens on how I viewed his world. Swirling colors filled my dreams at night, every unique cloud in the sky begged my attention, and sunsets stopped me in my tracks. I became mesmerized in a new way by the beauty and sheer genius in God’s creation and in the colors, shapes, and textures he uses together.
I believe we are all made in God’s image and therefore, because God is the Creator, we are all meant to imitate him and create beauty. My goal as an artist is to bring a sense of peace and calm and trust and rest to anxious people in an anxious world. I want to encourage and uplift people who are struggling with fear and the uncertainty of the unknown. And most of all, I want each and every piece that I paint to reflect and point to our Creator and Savior.
I named my business Second Story Art because through art, God has given me a second story. Looking back, I see how God’s plans for my life are far greater than anything I could hope or plan or imagine for myself. We prayed so hard for the two little babies we lost, but now I see how God said, “Not that gift, but this gift.” God is a God of second chances and second stories - making beauty from ashes and rainbows from floodwaters.
Everyone has a second story, and this is mine. What’s yours?
“The feeling these works emote is their finest quality. Our guests are always drawn to them; one lady said, ‘They speak to me.’ They really do. Mattie is a gifted artist.”