Until four years ago, I was a divorced single mom and a full time entrepreneur, with a big studio and a lot of overhead. When the economy turned south, my hardships began. Art hasn’t ever been a necessity as we all know, so I began the search of my life. What is to be my creative destiny?

At the time I had no idea that I would end up finding the answer to my question from an over the road trucker. I met James eating a greasy fat burger at a pub around the corner from my studio. Needless to say James never left Kansas City after our chance meeting and for a year supported my search with a loving tenacity. “Why don’t you paint big bugs” he continuously suggested. I not only thought he was nuts, but I told him he was nuts. He persisted and held on tight to this idea of big bugs.

Then it happened. Over our morning coffee, on December 3, 2002, James suggested painting big bugs for the last time. The vision struck me like lightening. In a flash I could see these extraordinary, profound paintings and it overwhelmed me. I hadn’t ever seen anything like them, so dramatic. In that instant, I knew I had found my creative destiny, but also realized the sacrifices to peruse it would just begin.

The majority of my friends, family, and clients didn’t understand the vision. A constant response was “Yuck, bugs. Why would you want to paint them?” I decided to stop creating commissioned art for income so that I could research at the public library, write proposals, and network with entomologists at KU and K State full time. And because of this, I could no longer afford the studio I had worked so hard for. I had to start from scratch with very little resources.

Having to let go of the studio was a blessing. James had the idea to create the big bug paintings in public spaces. “Everybody loves to watch an artist work” he insisted. However, we had to convince others of this brilliant idea, which was not easy. Soon, all of this snowballed into an interactive educational art and science exhibit including live daily performances. We called the show Project InSECT, (International Spectrum of Enormous Crawling Things). We needed a free, open to the public, studio space to begin. With proposals, we pitched our idea to Union Station Science City, and the Kansas City Zoo. It wasn’t in their budgets to compensate us for daily performances nor the educational programs, but we needed the space to get the ball rolling.

Everyone asked, “How are you going to fund this project?” From the beginning, James and I were all blind faith, we simply believed in it. As an individual artist, I am ineligible to receive NEA grant funding (inducted in 1997). Our hosting venues had no budget. The bug paintings aren’t for sale, so that they can continue to travel with the project and be used as primary educational tools for the public. Lastly, James got fired from his job, because creative education became his priority and passion. So, we decided to sell everything we owned, except for a suitcase full of clothes, art supplies, and began building Project InSECT with a 25 yard roll of canvas.

Within our first 6 months of performing, we educated and entertained over 300,000 visitors on the importance of art and insects. James began painting bug tattoos on all of the kids for donations so that we could eat and buy more paint. What a hit this was with the public! They were so supportive and ultimately inspired by witnessing our dreams in action. We had incredible fun and our lives became so meaningful, we hadn’t even noticed that we worked 14 to 16 hour days, 7 days a week for the entire first year of Project InSECT.

Since then we have performed at 11 different venues in 5 states. James and I have done over 150 free onsite and outreach programs for school children, juvenile detention centers, children’s hospitals, and nursing homes. I have performed and donated 2 original paintings with copyrights to the University of Nebraska and the Johnson County library for their outstanding educational and environmental pursuits.

Through all of the fun and excitement we have encountered many personal and public obstacles. Pressing through these difficulties have helped us to grow in character and become better people. The ripple effect that Project InSECT has created with the public has been the ultimate reward of our sacrifices, and bigger than we ever dreamed. Daily, we personally witness transformations in peoples’ fears, thoughts, and feelings about insects. A metamorphosis of the mind occurs during their visit. A new understanding and appreciation of insects is born and this discovery is magical. This is the most powerful impact of our exhibit. If we can help people appreciate insects, then it becomes possible for them to care about the smallness of our planet and our own humanity. In truth, human beings depend on these incredible micro machines of the world for our very own survival.