MY JOURNEY

Becoming an artful mommy

Hi! I'm Monica Lee. I'm a painter, a teacher and a mom. I earned my BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and my M.Ed from UC Santa Barbara. I love portraiture and landscapes. My favorite artists are Alice Neel and Vincent Van Gogh. If you know these artists you know that I love art that is loose, colorful and full of emotion! To check out my paintings, go to my gallery page​.

​

I was a high school art teacher in San Diego for 14 years. After I had my two kids I decided to stay home to spend my days getting creative with them. My kids are sweet, fun, inquisitive little people! I'm married to Mr. Lee, a fun loving, super creative guy, who also has a love for the arts. We have an orange kitty named Hei Hei.

​

Being a high school art teacher was a career that gave me a sense of purpose, connection and creativity. It also gave me a birds eye view of the end product of childhood education - some children were confident and creative, and some children struggled with a fear of failure. Fast forward to having children of my own and I stepped into the beginning of the education process. I learned to see the world through the eyes of my children and in doing so I came to see the immense and innate sense of creativity that all children hold.

​

I made it my passion to develop and nurture creativity in children and to help other parents do the same. I started writing about my experiences, my thoughts, and curious wonderings about creativity and our world. I founded ArtfulMommy with a mission to help other parents bring art and creativity into the lives of their children.

​

These days I teach art part-time at my children's elementary school in North County San Diego. Teaching K-6 kids is a whole new world for me. The excitement and eagerness to learn and try new things in elementary aged children is astounding to me. I feel blessed to have the privilege to be an art teacher to so many creative souls. When I'm not in the classroom you'll find me outside painting the beauty of nature.

​

Take some time to explore my blog, comment and add your own thoughts to the conversation, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions or comments.