About me

A few years ago, I was a burned-out Special Education paraprofessional…

I had earned my BA in studio art from CSU Fullerton in 2014, then moved to Washington D.C. because I was burnt out from school and needed a change of scenery. I discovered a museum was hiring for a position. I became a museum assistant at The Phillips Collection in D.C. They are known as America’s first museum of modern art, founded in 1921 by Duncan Phillips. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it! They feature a collection of modern and contemporary art. I enjoyed my time there and met so many great people, but decided to leave after a year to jump into K-12 Education. I was thinking about becoming a teacher, ideally teaching high school art.

I was back in Southern California when the pandemic hit in 2020 and education went online. I was lucky to keep my job and work from home.

But the world was wild. I didn’t recognize it. Everything was changing so fast.

I had a nervous breakdown and had to see a therapist just to calm my nerves. I was worried about the future. I had an identity crisis. I spiraled into anxiety and depression. Suddenly everything I had shoved down since I was very young came bubbling up to the surface. My childhood trauma I never wanted to revisit was suddenly at the forefront of my mind.

When 2024 rolled around, I reviewed my life and realized I had spent 10 years in different positions, at different schools, always in a classified role. 7 of those years were spent as a special education paraprofessional working with young adults with moderate to severe disabilities.

I was burnt out and decided that teaching within the K-12 education system wasn’t for me. So I quit.

To calm myself down, I returned to my childhood love of drawing and painting.

I visited cemeteries because they were quiet and peaceful.

I fell madly in love with watercolor again and started painting birds - my spirit animals.

Slowly, my energy and motivation had returned.

I focused on exhibiting artwork in a gallery in South Pasadena - and still do!

I was successfully selling original artwork and prints. But it was all pop-culture / tribute art.

It wasn’t what I WANTED to be painting. I wanted to paint my own authentic art! I wanted to dive deeper into the art world!

And so I did. I decided to go back to school to earn a master’s degree in studio art with plans to teach university art classes.

Here I am in 2026, and so far my Master’s of Fine Arts journey has been a lot of fun! I am learning so much from the community of artists I am surrounded by. Yes it’s stressful, but WORTH IT.

I am currently working on a cohesive body of work I am proud of, all of which you can view in my portfolio.

Thank you for being here!

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-Sarah