Full Circle

Yesterday, something extraordinary happened.

A friend from my past sent me a copy of a NASCAR program I had illustrated the cover for Pocono Raceway. At first, I simply smiled. It brought back wonderful memories of a chapter of my life I hadn’t visited in quite some time. Then I looked at the date.

It was exactly twenty years ago this month.

I sat there staring at it, amazed by the timing.

Long before Hopscotch Couture became my world, fine art was where my creative journey began. One of the opportunities I was most proud of was creating artwork for Pocono Raceway, including the NASCAR program covers. During that time, I became friends with one of the raceway owners, Michelle

. Her father had been named Pennsylvanian of the Year, and in his autobiography he shared a story that stayed with me.

He wrote about meeting Walt Disney at a private golf club. During their conversation, Walt offered a piece of advice that seemed almost surprising.

“Never work at the same career for more than fifteen years. You’ll lose the love for it.”

At the time, I appreciated the story, but I don’t think I truly understood it.

Life has a way of teaching us lessons when we’re finally ready to receive them.

Over the past several years, my life has changed dramatically. Serious health challenges, loss, and circumstances beyond my control forced me to step away from much of the work I had built over the last three decades. It wasn’t a decision I wanted to make, but sometimes life gently—or not so gently—redirects our path.

What I didn’t expect was that it would lead me back to where it all began.

Today, I spend my time creating a deeply personal fine art series titled Le Poisson du Jardin (The Fish of the Garden). Through twelve symbolic paintings, I am telling my life story in a way words never could. Every fish, every flower, every garden path carries meaning. They speak of resilience, grief, healing, hope, faith, and survival.

Receiving that twenty-year-old program cover yesterday didn’t feel like a coincidence.

It felt like a reminder.

A reminder that sometimes the road forward takes us back to our first love.

A reminder that no experience is ever wasted.

A reminder that the dreams we set aside don’t disappear. They simply wait patiently until we’re ready to embrace them again.

Looking back, I can see that fashion was never a departure from fine art. It was simply another chapter in the same creative story. Every piece of wearable art I created taught me something that prepared me for the paintings I am creating today.

The timing of that program cover arriving exactly twenty years later felt like one of those rare moments that makes you stop and pay attention.

For me, it was a quiet affirmation.

A gentle whisper that I am exactly where I am supposed to be.

As I continue painting The Fish of the Garden, I often wonder where this new chapter will lead. I don’t have all the answers, but perhaps I don’t need them. Sometimes all we need is a small reminder that we are moving in the right direction.

Yesterday, that reminder arrived in the form of a twenty-year-old NASCAR program cover.

Sometimes life comes full circle.

And sometimes, if we’re paying attention, it reminds us that our first love was waiting for us all along.