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    About Cat

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    I'm a fine artist with a less traditional background.

     

    The Backstory

    It took me 44 years to discover I could paint!! The art world might classify me as a “creative late bloomer,” and I’m cool with that (they say the same of Vincent van Gogh).

     

    I have a long history of tackling new challenges as an underdog … and emerging victorious. From winning the California Women’s State Freestyle Wrestling Championship at the age of 17, to playing rugby in college, taking first place in national Brazilian jiujitsu tournaments, completing three marathons, and skiing moguls, I’ve always been an enthusiastic competitor.

     

    I’m a four-time entrepreneur. For nearly 20 years, I’ve applied my creative talents to transforming prisons from places of pain and punishment into houses of healing and hope. I’ve worked with gang leaders in solitary confinement in the most notorious prisons, leading intervention programs that work. The three prison organizations I’ve founded have served 21,000+ graduates and their families.

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    How I Discovered My Sponge Balls

    Getting COVID in 2022 led me to develop neurological conditions and multiple life-altering disabilities. My neuropathy and POTS diagnoses led to an artist’s worst nightmare: seven more diagnoses in my hands, wrists, and elbows (both sides). I lost much of my hand function, including my ability to grip a paintbrush.

     

    I could’ve called it quits with my painting love affair … but instead, I got more creative. Using soft sponge balls saved my artistic ambitions—and Painting with Balls was born.

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    My Innovative Painting Method

    I poke my paintbrush through a sponge ball, and voilà, I’m unstoppable. I gently hold the balls and paint by moving just my shoulder, instead of my hand or wrist.

     

    I’ve been right-handed all my life, and it’s only fair that my left pitches in. Becoming ambidextrous is double the fun.

     

    Painting helps me refocus my energy from the excruciating physical pain I experience to a spiritual realm through which I create heartfelt artwork. Painting connects me to people like you through a myriad of emotions and love—it’s cathartic transformation at its finest.

     

    I thrive when I create joy and meaning for others, and I’d love to do this for you. I can’t wait to partner with you in bringing your vision to life for an inspiring piece of art!

     

    So, let’s get the ball rolling (no pun intended)!

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    Named by Fast Company as one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business”

     

     

     

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    Received the MDC Partners Humanitarian Award

     

     

     

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    Named to Forbes’ “40 Women to Watch Over 40"

     

     

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    Bestselling author of A Second Chance: For You, For Me, and for the Rest of Us