Praise God from whom all blessings flow! This book is the illustrated story laced with portrait vignettes of my American family and my life as a creative artist. I have filled these memoirs with a retrospective of my art—pleasant ephemera, family papers, genealogies, love stories, newspaper clippings, church history, scripture, and vintage photographs presented in a scrapbook format. I correlate these wonderful stories with highlights of relevant American history—black and white. My husband, Tom, and I have rich legacies of captivating recorded family history that has survived. We can date his freeborn family back before 1779 and my enslaved family to 1815. When I was a little girl, it was always a special event when I sat with my grandaunt Florena Bell Brown on her sunporch to hear the ancient stories about our family. This rich oral family history impacted and inspired my life because my family was “up from slavery” and found American prosperity in such profound ways that it will amaze you. Knowing where we as a family came from gave me an appreciation for our history and the struggle to achieve goals and to never give up the way they didn’t. I also found out how we fit into God’s divine plan as one of the oldest continuously living things on earth called—the family!

Working with such giants in the art, communication, and collectibles industries—such as the Hallmark Greeting Card Company and the Franklin Mint—gave me enormous comprehensive experiences early in my art career. Perhaps you might recognize some of the art that I showcase from my portfolio that also advances my storyline like a documentary. Through C. R. Gibson, Thomas Nelson, Enesco, American Express, Seeds Evangelical, and many other major corporations, my illustrations have appeared and been collected in millions and millions of forms and homes throughout the years.