Going back to my Art by Carola business name brings back pain. I went to grad school with Art by Carola as a sole proprietor business and caught hell behind it. I take ownership of the blame for my grad school failure because I trusted insecure mean-spirited people. And, they did what insecure mean-spirited people do by trying to destroy my creativity.

Except for Jesus their plan would have worked. I’m standing on the blood of my Ancestors, and I even had Cherokee land protecting me while I was there. And then there was Penland, welcoming me each summer to a transformative art experience. Circumstances have a way of working themselves out for the best.

Grad School was my first up close and personal racist experience in an art environment. It was ruthlessly racist, fed by a group of insecure women who felt like there weren’t enough blessings to go around. So, if someone who looked like me at a blessing, then it took something away from the amount they possessed or fell short of possessing. Insecure women in a group feeding each other’s dark feelings are vicious. But thanks be to God, I survived, and what doesn’t kill you does make you stronger. I forgive everyone involved in the Art Department and Graduate School at Western Carolina University. My God show each of you the mercy you weren’t able to share to me.