When everyone is reaching for their first cup of coffee of the day, I’m reaching for my first paint brush or colored pencil or whatever I can get my hands on to satisfy this craving in my soul to create art. Art is my drug and my life source. Even when I was young, art was the only thing that could settle me down for any length of time. In grade school teachers even wanted me on Ritalin! My Dad told the teachers, “When she is done with her school work just let her draw” and it worked!

Well I’m an adult now. I dropped out of college, quit my job and moved to Montana to do art full time. It’s all I want and I figure being this young in life it’s all or nothing and sometimes you just have to quit everything and go for your dream. What would happen if I had just put this off until my forties… or fifties?

Since then my art has really taken off. I started live painting at festivals and other shows. The music and the energy at these places just bring out the craziest pieces from me. My art expresses solely how I am feeling at that moment. If I am in a bad mood, some disturbing stuff appears on my canvas but more often than not my canvases are filled with bright colors with a twist on reality.

‘Party on the Mountain” (this months cover) is my first summer in the four-oh-six, my first summer of true happiness, getting lost in the woods and meeting new friends with animal names. The piece was worked on over a three month period, adding something new here and there, people, places and things that impacted me. The piece is strictly colored pencils, with one little gem down on the bottom… Colored pencils, they’re the medium that stole my heart and well, that is what this piece is, I love blending hues and playing with bright colors, and this piece was perfect for it, even has UV aspects that make it fun in the dark.

So… it’s nice to meet you, I’m Napping Artist, Panduh or just Mindy, a girl of insane imagination and many aliases, who can’t wait to get back to her easel.

Current work can be seen locally within Nightlife at Cactus Record in Downtown Bozeman and online at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Napping-Artist/183655451645590 or http://www.etsy.com/people/NappingArtist?ref=si_pr.