We simply never know where our life’s experiences will take us, do we? In my twenties, I was painting whimsical characters on wooden blocks to sell at craft shows, alongside my “day job” painting weekly sales signs and banners for a local grocery store.

When I turned thirty, I took a leap of faith with the suggestion from my dad to open my own my professional picture framing business. I LOVED the design process and bringing it all together in a frame that complimented the item. The joy my customers expressed when they had their first look at their finished work filled my heart with such happiness. For ten years, I framed thousands of works of art, photos, memorabilia, and hand-stitched items, adding joy to countless lives.

In 2009, I switched gears completely and started a different business inspiring healthy living & helping folks eat veggies without tasting them. I still do this today & find so much fulfillment in it, especially when folks share how it’s improved their health picture over time. This work has allowed me to pursue the experiences I get to have now with art.

In December 2021, while in my mid-fifties, I pushed past the fear of a blank white watercolor page & put paint to paper for the first time that actually looked interesting. I had no idea what I was doing, so watched hours of watercolor artists on social media and became braver. When I shared a whimsical owl on Facebook, folks went a bit bonkers wanting to buy it! I could hardly believe my eyes as I read the comments!

I kept at it, upgraded my materials, played with color & techniques and began to discover my own style, posting images as I completed them. By the end of January 2022, I had about a dozen paintings completed, many of which were gifts. Of those I posted, folks wanting merchandise! Cards, stickers, magnets, pillows, t-shirts, books…the list goes on and on!

I was stunned, because I was painting to rediscover joy in my own life, and was discovering my crazy looking curly, swirly, doodley paintings brought were adding joy to others lives, too!

Being the natural-born entrepreneur that I am, I ordered my first cards & stickers, learned how to set up a the basics of a website (I’m still learning) & a few weeks later, WhimZadoodles was born. Cards and stickers have been mailed all over the US and after an extended hiatus, I’m back at it, finding joy in painting again, learning new techniques, exploring new artistic avenues, and making plans for expanding my product lines to offer more ways to spread a wee bit of joy in the world.

For years, my motto has been, “everything turns out exquisitely better than could ever be planned.” (Fang, the raccoon holds this sign in his paws). I certainly never planned this, yet here it is, turning out far better than I imagined it would, and bringing a whole lotta folks joy.

And that, my friends, makes my heart grateful and happy. I hope you enjoy sharing WhimZadoodles. This world really could use a whole lot more joyful hearts.

I also hope this crazy journey inspires you do put some paint on your blank page - whatever that looks like for you - and keep at it until you discover your source of joy.

Jake Derr