My love for art started at a very young age, yet I didn’t pick up my first brush till I was 37. In fact, my last formal art “training” was my 4^th grade Art class because in 5^th grade I made the heartbreaking decision to moved away from my parents and 5 siblings to become an Olympic trained figure skater. I trained in the Twin Cities, Rochester, Colorado Springs and Cape Cod, Boston. Part of a Figure Skaters training is studying art masterpieces, classical music and ballet all with the goal of telling a story on ice in a four-minute program.

As I trained side by side with Nancey Kerrigan my team of coaches were relentless; to the point that a sport I once loved, I began to loathe. I was not just told what to eat, but when to eat, when to sleep, when to talk, when I could use the restroom and that if my “a#@” didn’t get higher in the air, I would be kicked off the ice. During on & off ice ten-hour training days, we would be weighed in. I was told every week I needed to lose more. The thin girls would get “fat” shakes. I remember one time walking to the bathroom with ice packs strapped to my body by dish rages, hobbling to the bathroom, I found an empty cup, filled it with water, dumped it in the toilet and pretended to puke just so I could get a couple hours break from going back on the ice. That same emotionally abusive coach kicked me off the ice when I landed my first triple toe jump because I sliced my laces on the landing and didn’t have another set and was not allowed to ask anyone else because “I should have been prepared.” Crazy to think none of my coaches were even Russian. A book was later published on several of these coaches and their abusive ways, titled “Little Girls in Pretty Boxes.”

In each piece, I hope you can feel the loneliness, emptiness and stillness yet also be moved by the volition and empowerment each “Little Girl in Pretty Boxes” reveal. We all have our own “Little Girl/Boy in Pretty Boxes” story. Take a moment to feel yours and be proud of YOU for all the trials and tribulations you have overcome throughout your life.