We are twins who have grown up in a rural Maine town where the focus of life has been to support our families with "real jobs". We grew up married brothers and have raised our families. Through good and bad through thick and thin we are still best friends. While I (Stacy) raised my twins, I sold my art for a while as commissioned portraits to help with family income. The economy tanked in 2008, and I got another real job to help pay the bills as my husband lost his job. Thus ended my first foray into being a self-employed artist. Heather has also had her ups and downs in her career and has had small adventures in the arts and crafts world. She is a mom to a wonderful autistic child and with it comes the challenge of keeping him safe and sound in a world that is somewhat difficult to navigate. She works from home on different projects to help support her family. Now that we have reached the middle of our lives, we find ourselves at a crossroads with life and the dream we wanted to live when we were younger. 

As two people who battle psoriatic arthritis that surprised us in our 40's we have found it difficult sometimes to dig out that paint, paper, or canvas. I discovered the joy of digital art as I could drag an iPad wherever I went. As my husband battled his cancer, I found this to be very stress relieving as I could pick it up and put it down quickly and as needed. Heather soon followed me into the obsession and found that it was also convenient for her busy life. We do not use AI tools; it's painting with a stylus in a program—our vision, not a computer’s. 

We are now in our 50s and are starting our adventure in earnest. This website displays a wide variety of styles as we experiment with making digital art that expresses what we want to convey in the subject we have chosen to paint. We send files back and forth and give each other encouragement or critique as needed. Yes, there are plenty of fails, but we are having fun, and we hope you enjoy our art as much as we have enjoyed creating it. 

My contributions to this website are dedicated to my husband who passed in May of 2024. He was my best friend, biggest fan, and the bravest person I have ever known.

Stacy Nelson-Real