Leaving for France | Munn Fellowship Award | Artist Residency in Giverny

  In May of 2021, I was awarded the Munn Fellowship which will allow me to live and paint as artist-in-residence for 3 months at Claude Monet's estate in Giverny, France.  Words cannot express how thankful I am to have been chosen for this prestigious award.  It has really helped to fuel my passion and made me think deeply about my own work and career.
  I leave in two days for this residency and I'm filled with all sorts of emotions.  I'm very excited and nervous at the same time.  This will also be the longest I've ever been away from home for one period of time.  I've only been to Europe one time previously when I went to Spain in 2018.  But this trip is different because it's not a vacation and I'm going to be working very hard to create paintings.  Although I love painting with all my heart, it is still a job and I take it very seriously.
  Of course I can't paint 24/7 so I also want to spend some time exploring Giverny and Paris.  I've been generously given some recommendations of things to do in Paris so that's going to be fun to do in my downtime.  The culture, museums, food, language and people are all things that I look forward to experiencing.  I am also planning to do a lot of writing and maybe turn it into a published memoir or book once I'm back.  My Summer in Giverny.. haha
  To my family, friends, students and everyone who has wished me well: THANK YOU!!  Your support has meant so much to me.  I feel like I have a whole team of people rooting for me here in the US.  I really want to make everyone proud of me and to share my experience as much as I can.  With that being said, I'll be sharing updates, writing and photos on this BLOG.  I'll post frequently so please stay tuned.  Au revoir pour le moment! 🇫🇷