Hello, followers and art lovers!
I made a delightfully surprising discovery this week while driving through Michigan City, Indiana. But believe it or not, this isn’t the first time I’ve been in this situation!
Flashback to 2018. The Uptown Arts Districts had an open call for local artists to submit work in a contest. The winners would have their artwork displayed on light pole banners around the city.
I submitted several pieces of art, including pencil sketches, a charcoal drawing, and photographs. But I was never contacted by the arts association, so I assumed that no answer meant my work hadn’t been selected.
I was briefly disappointed, then forgot all about it and moved on. My first novel, A Fallen Hero, was published at the end of the year, and I was preoccupied with the book release.
A year later (2019), my mom and I had driven to Michigan City to pick up sushi for dinner. As she was driving home, I was watching out the window and listening while she talked, but something caught my eye. I spied an eerily familiar raven on a light pole banner. It jolted me, although I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why.
I needed several seconds to process what I was seeing before I realized why this raven looked so familiar—it was mine!
My mom was still talking, but I cut her off when I suddenly blurted out, “That’s my raven!”
She was understandably puzzled, and I was so excited and flustered that I could barely get any other words out besides, “That’s my raven! Pull over!”
And that’s the story of how I accidentally stumbled upon my charcoal art piece “The Raven” displayed on the corner of 9th and Pine in Michigan City.
I thought that was the end of the story…
Until this past Tuesday when I was driving home from my creative writing workshop. I don’t usually drive this route, but I had an errand to run on the other side of town. As I was cruising down Washington Street…
SURPRISE!! Art piece #2 displayed in front of a church!
This time, when I saw the art, I instantly knew it was mine. I pulled over and, phone in hand, crossed the street to gaze up at “Dapple Gray” attached to a light post at the corner of 9th and Washington.
It’s possible that I have more artwork scattered around Michigan City, and I just haven’t found it yet. I had entered a total of seven submissions into the competition. Four were grayscale drawings, and three were photographs.
This would have been a completely different experience if the Uptown Arts District had told me which (if any) pieces were accepted and where they were going to be placed. There’s a fun mystery in accidentally finding my artwork around the city. I certainly wouldn’t have had that unforgettable, shocking jolt the first time I saw my raven on display.
I think I just might need to go on an adventure and roam the city in search of other art pieces!
Interested in more art? Check out the art gallery and subscribe to my Patreon channel for in-progress and behind-the-scenes sneak peeks as I continue to create!
I'm an award-winning fantasy author, artist, and photographer from La Porte, Indiana. My poetry, short fiction, and memoir works have been featured in various anthologies and journals since 2005, and several of my poems are available in the Indiana Poetry Archives. The first two novels in my Chronicles of Avilésor: War of the Realms series both received the Literary Titan Gold Book Award in 2020.
After working as a freelance writer for a time, I was shocked by how many website articles are actually written by paid "ghost writers" but credited to a different author. It was a jolt seeing my articles presented under the name of a high-profile CEO or an industry expert with decades of experience when in reality, I had none of those credentials. Just a talent for writing and the time to research topics. Ghost writing is perfectly legal and a VERY common practice.
You won't find that here on my website. I do not and never will pay a ghost writer, then slap my name on their work as if I'd written it. This website is 100% authentic. No outsourcing. No ghost writing. No AI-generated content. It's just me... as it should be.
If you would like to support my work, check out the Support The Creator page for more information. Thank you for finding my website! 🖤