The Pink Tree

This is the story about my first big painting:

For YEARS I had wanted to paint on a large canvas, but didn't know what I would paint.

Even so, it was on my bucket list.

(Side note: I know a lady who buys a HUGE canvas and paints on it for a year. I find that super cool.)

After Preston and I got married, I moved from Idaho to Utah and started a new job. It wasn't a good fit for me, and I was feeling strongly like I needed to reconsider my career path/industry.

I was ✨terrified.✨

My husband was confident in me and supported my decision to quit my job - with NOTHING new lined up. (It feels irresponsible to even *type* that!! But the leap felt like the right decision.)

You're probably thinking this is the part of the story where I become a successful artist, selling out all the time.

(It's not.)

Instead, this is the part of the story where I was unemployed from Thanksgiving-Valentine's Day. (Yiiiiikes)

Then I was hired on as a sales rep for BambooHR (and I LOVED that job, by the way. I am so grateful for the courage I found to quit my previous job and then eventually interview for a sales position.)

Before I got the job offer, I spent many hours a day applying for jobs. It was exhausting and discouraging. But once I had a job secured, I took two weeks off to paint…and paint something big.

This painting has some compositional flaws, and I learned a lot while making it! But gosh, it makes me feel happy inside.

(Peep at my infants toes 😭) - Camille Marie Photography

Mostly: I learned that I LOVE painting large. Some canvas sizes just feel right, and I’m a big fan of the 24x48 inch-ers for a lot of my pieces.

- Camille Marie Photography

I still go back and forth on what kind of flowers these are. I don’t think they’re cherry blossoms (too big,) and I’m not convinced they’re camellias, so this is just the ‘Pink Tree’ that hangs above my bed 🖤