Jill lindsay~ biography

Grab a cuppa ~ it’s a long one!

1958 - Born in Malden, Massachusetts…. I know, I know, the year must be a typo, I’ll just leave it at that.

I lived in Medford, Massachusetts, in the same house, with my parents, Betty & Bob and my two older sisters Debbie & Robyn from infancy to “adulthood.” It is comforting to know that I’ll always be the youngest of the three girls. I was a very happy kid.

I cared much more about fun than school. This worried Mom & Dad so they decided to send me to a private school in Lexington for my high school years. I did not think this was the greatest idea and rebelled a little. I’m not talking about criminal activity or anything like that, I just skipped school a lot and hung out with my friends. Normal, right? Well, despite the odds I graduated (barely), then I spent a year at Fitchburg State College, but I was still more interested in having fun than studying… are you seeing a pattern?

In 1982 I was 23 years old, still living at home and making minimum wage at some secretarial job when I got the brilliant idea of fulfilling my lifelong passion of being a nurse. Poor Mom & Dad had their doubts, history repeats and all that, but I was a model student and graduated from Lawrence Memorial Hospital School of Nursing with honors in 1985. Go figure.

In 1986 as a gift to ourselves, Steph and I went to the Bahama’s for a week. Now I had traveled a bit when I was in my early 20’s to California, Nova Scotia, Florida (a virtual globetrotter!) but there was nothing like the Bahama’s to me. Turquoise seas, warm tropical breezes, everyone was so happy! Now I’m from Massachusetts, not exactly the mecca of hospitality (no offense, but seriously!). So when our trip was over and we returned to the gray skies and bare trees of March in Medford, we knew we could not stay there. It just wasn’t in the cards. So we plotted and planned and saved our money and six months later we were saying goodbye to our friends & family and heading to the promised land… Los Angeles.

It sounds like it should get sordid from here, but it doesn’t. We got jobs, made double what we made in Taxachusetts and had a wonderful time. Eventually we both met guys (well, we always met guys… wink, wink) but these guys we decided to keep. Actually, I’m still with mine.

Mark and I married in 1989, after a year of “courtship.” He worked for TWA and around the time we got married, we were ready to leave California. Don’t get me wrong, we loved it there, but it was very expensive and those earthquakes were just a bit too much for me (and I wanted to be closer to my folks). He put in for a transfer to National Airport in Arlington, Virginia and we hit the road.

We lived in Dale City at first which is 20 miles south of DC and about 2 hours during high traffic, which was 4am-1am. I mean, LA had traffic but come on, that beltway was total bonkers! After four years we moved inside the beltway to Falls Church and it was perfection. We spent less time in traffic and more time boating on the Chesapeake and using those great benefits TWA offered. I finally became the globetrotter I was always meant to be. Yes, we still needed money, so I worked as an RN at Visiting Nurses but the hours were flexible and all was good. We even had a cat (Mittens) and a golden retriever (Cosmo).

As you may have noticed, you haven’t boarded a TWA flight in a few years. Unfortunately they had to close their gates in DC and we decided to try something new. We always loved the Caribbean (remember the Bahamas) but Cosmo and Mittens were not going to leave the States, so we did the next best thing and moved to the Florida Keys in 1998.

We stopped in Marathon, rented a place and had the time of our lives. We boated, fished (worked a little) and met some great people. The Keys are part of the USA but it’s different down there. You really do live on an island, and as strange as that may seem, it does get tiresome. Crazy, right? So after three glorious years we moved yet again to Port Charlotte, Florida, in 2001 and we have been here ever since.

I got a nursing job at Bon Secours St. Joe’s (which has changed hands many times since then) and Mark took on the world of kitchen design. It’s hard to believe that was over twenty years ago. Cosmo and Mittens, who lived in Port Charlotte with us for a few years, have wet noses in heaven now. We adopted Jake soon after Cosmo left us and a few years later added Stella to the mix.

We had Jake for 14 beautiful years, until August 2020. We imagine him running with Cosmo now. Stella joined Jake over the rainbow bridge in December 2023. I know for those that have children saying your pet is a child to you seems silly, but I’m not sure there is another creature out there that could have loved me more than Stella did. Just sayin’.

In February I was wandering through the Animal Shelter when I came upon an all white, 65 pound Golden Doodle, just over one year old. Within the hour he was in my car and on the way to his new home. We named him Birdie, a nod to my love for birds and my husband’s dream golf game. He is so dang sweet and we are both madly in love with him!

Okay, this is my art web site, so I feel like I’m burying the lead. My first art class was in 2002 at the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda. It was a furniture painting class. And let me tell you, I was nervous to go. I didn’t think I knew anything (I didn’t) and I didn’t want to be judged (no one was judging me). So, with my fear in my back pocket I signed up anyway and it was so much fun. I learned so much and started painting furniture until nearly everything in the house was touched by paint.

So I carried on with work while I did a few art projects here and there. I even went back to school in 2011 and became a certified wound and ostomy nurse. Yeah, I know, it sounds gross, until you need me, then I’m the best thing that ever happened to you. I worked in the hospital system until 2017. I was a specialist which had its benefits but I got pretty fried toward the end. Not with the gross stuff but with the political stuff. I worked at a local hospital and they cared more about making money than humans (in my humble opinion). And yes, if you don’t have money then you don’t have supplies, blah, blah, blah, but we’re dealing with sick human beings people. Uh oh, I drifted again…

While I was still working I really needed an outlet. There was this abstract art class taught by the amazing Beverly Yankwitt at the Cultural Center in Port Charlotte. I figured abstract would be easy (it’s not, but I didn’t know that back then). And just like the furniture painting class nearly 13 years earlier, I was scared to go, but I went anyway. Listen, you have to do what you want to do, even if it’s scary, otherwise there will be regret, and nobody wants that. Anyway, that was 2015. Nearly ten years ago! So I go to this class and Bev is an awesome teacher and the people in the class are awesome too.

A fellow student, Stella showed me a book on alcohol ink and had some samples she let me use in class. When I put that first alcohol ink drop on the Yupo, I was mesmerized. And I knew something big was happening. Those feelings do not come along often, but when they do it’s positively amazing. It’s really important to pay attention to these moments and follow whatever spark may be lit. If you don’t, the spark will go out and you will never know what might have been!

So for me, After art class that day I went straight home, ordered the book, Pigments of Your Imagination by Cathy Taylor and a bunch of ink on Amazon, and I was off to the races. I sought out Cathy Taylor. I found out that she was doing a four-day alcohol ink workshop in November of 2016, so I enrolled in the class. No hesitation, no fear this time, just pure excitement. My friend Deb (who I introduced to the inks) joined me and we had the time of our lives. The art center was about 90 minutes from my house so Deb and I took the week off of work (she was a nurse too) and stayed in a fancy hotel close to the art center. We had four days of wild & wonderful creating. I can’t say enough about Cathy Taylor. She is such a joy to be around!!!

After that, things really changed for me. Our art group did a little exhibition and sale in December and I sold about five alcohol ink pieces. I couldn’t believe it. Someone actually paid for something I created. I must say, that feeling was quite new to me and it is so joyful. Honestly, it still is. I love to create and really do love the art I create, but when someone else loves it too, it’s magical.

Okay, so after that December exhibit I got the courage to sign up for the Peace River Art Fest (with a tent, booth, the whole nine yards) in Punta Gorda , which was held in February 2017. I wanted to see if the December thing was a fluke or if people really liked my art. It wasn’t a fluke. People really liked my art. I sold quite a bit that weekend and I got to talk about the art all weekend long. It was exhausting and exhilarating. Then I started winning awards for my art. Crazy.

Right around this same time my friend Deb passed away rather suddenly. It was devastating. She was a budding artist (like me) and got the same thrill that I did over creating things. I was heartbroken. Her family allowed me to go through her art and supplies and as I sorted through the projects that weren’t completed I thought to myself, “what are you doing Jill?” Nursing was not doing it for me anymore. I was happiest when I was creating. I would walk down the hospital corridors and look at the art on the wall and think about painting instead of thinking about the patient I was going to see. That was not good… for the patient or for me, so I quit in April 2017 and haven’t looked back. I loved being a nurse. I was fortunate enough to help a lot of people but I just couldn’t do it anymore. So I made art my full-time gig and it’s a great job. I do work at it tirelessly but when I create something new I fall in love all over again.

I love alcohol ink and have taught many workshops on the subject (and hope to teach many more). The instant gratification you can get with the ink is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Honestly, in one minute you can create something impressive. And to be able to teach the process to other people is beyond joyful to me. I love seeing the creativity of others. I refer to it as planting seeds with these students then I sit back and watch their garden grow. For me, it doesn’t get much better than that.

The mosaic paper collage aka square art was inspired after a trip to the Dali museum in Saint Petersburg, Florida. He was such a master of art. When you see his work you can’t help but want to look closer and find all the hidden secrets he was trying to convey. That’s what I try to achieve with the squares. Have people linger on the art. See things they may not have seen from afar.

All the art I create is with purpose and intention. Sometimes the intention is just to make you smile, like the Birds with Shoes. Many times I try to convey the personality of what I am creating, like with “Believe” or “Hopelessly Optimistic.”

It’s all about bringing joy to the viewer. And since I am the first person to view it, if it doesn’t bring me joy then I will work on it and change it until it does. Only then will I share it with you. And, of course, I want it to be unique, like nothing you’ve ever seen before. For me, that means staying curious, trying new things, not following any rules (just like when I was in high school).

It is pretty amazing to me that I had this inside me and it was the right time to let it out. Less than 10 years ago. What if I didn’t take that art class? What if I stayed in Massachusetts, didn’t take a chance on California? If there’s one takeaway from being a nurse for thirty years it’s to do things you want to do, even if you’re afraid. As a matter of fact, I think you should run toward your fear!

Get up off the couch and try something new, even if it’s a zoom class, or a little story you want to write, a phone call you’ve been meaning to make, a closet that needs cleaning, a garden that needs tending. Joy does not come knocking on your door, you have to find it and whatever that joy is for you, embrace it. Sometimes it just takes fifteen minutes to try something new, or even do something you don’t feel like doing. Don’t wait for the motivation to come, start something and before you know it, you’ll be motivated to continue. Just try it and see what happens. The possibilities are endless.

Thanks so much for getting to the end of my bio. I would love to hear from you. Send me an email and let me know how you’re doing.