I've been painting murals, trompe l'oeil, faux finishes and other decorative art since 1999. It's hard to call Red Coat Designs a business. Painting is a gift from God. Calling it a business feels as silly as calling one of my daughters a business. I did not ask for this gift; He chose to give me this gift. I am honored and humbled that He thought enough of me to give me this gift, and blessed that I can use it to earn a living. Should the day come when I can no longer earn a living painting, I will still paint. I will paint to honor Him. I will paint for the sheer joy of exercising this talent He has placed within me.
I was born in Houma, Louisiana and raised in the little bayou community of Dulac. My daddy was a shrimper, a seaman and a carpenter, depending on what paid best to raise his six daughters. Mama was a housewife. Neither went to high school. They married when Daddy was 18 and Mama 16. They made sure we all finished high school, and most of us went to college. Although I knew from the time I could hold a crayon God had given me the ability to be an artist, nobody back then directed me toward a vocation in art. For the most part, if you were female and fortunate enough to go to college at that time in south Louisiana, you either became a teacher or a nurse. I became a nurse.
I was a nurse for 26 years. For the first 13 years, I did hospital and home health nursing. Then I got into the business end of medicine, becoming a medical case manager for an insurance-related company. I did pretty well with this company. In less than two years, I was promoted to management. In ten years, I became an officer of the company. I was Assistant Vice President of Health and Rehabilitation Services of an international company---and I was miserable.
I did a lot of crying, and a lot of praying. Call me a kook if you'd like, but God spoke to me in a dream and gave me the courage to walk away from the biggest paying job I ever hoped to have. I walked away at a time my husband had gone back to school and earning a whole lot less than he had in years. I had two daughters in college and one about to start college. We didn't have a whole lot in savings. Any reasonable person would have waited for a better time to quit work, but God had filled me with the kind of walk-on-water faith that I knew could only come from Him. I took a leap of faith knowing, that even if I sunk, He was still God--I was still His child--and He'd pull me out of the water and do CPR if necessary.
I was 47 years old when he led me to change careers. I had no contacts in the business. I didn't know what to charge. I didn't have a clue who my competitors were. My cousin, Adella, gave me my first paying job. I painted her baby's nursery. She paid me $200 in travelers checks, and I gave the entire amount to my church. It was my "First Fruit offering".
The first mural I ever painted and got PAID for!
My business grew steadily. I have painted for almost 400 clients; most were repeat clients. We were living near Atlanta, GA when I started Red Coat Designs. In August of 2009, Paul and I moved back to Louisiana. Although I've gone back to Georgia to paint some, the majority of my time has been spent on renovating a house next to the bayou. I've not made much effort to start my business in Louisiana, or keep it going in Georgia. The renovation keeps me about as busy as I can stand. So, I don't know if God is winding the business down and I am starting a new season in my life, or if He's gonna let me get this renovation done and re-boot Red Coat Designs. All I know is, right now, I have a desire to write and it seemed like this was as good a place to start to tell about all the wonderful things He has done for me.
I will be posting pictures of my work. In the meantime, you can see stuff I've done at http://community.webshots.com/user/pgucce.
So, if anyone is out there---Hello!
