Welcome to my page! My name is Krysten Housden- mother of 2, stepmother of 2, wife and passionate artist. I've decided to start this blog to illustrate my journey to becoming a professional graphic designer, and all the little bumps life has and will throw at me along the way. I'd like to start by mentioning my Grandfather, Tom Deady; my first artsitic inspiration. As many of us children do, I spent countless holiday weekends visiting with my grandparents in a very old and beautiful town called Black Diamond, Washington. The view of Mt. Rainier from this small secluded place is indescribable. The house they lived in, which was designed and built by my grandfather and our family, always smelled of fresh garden foods, and my grandmother always had wonderful jazz or blues music playing throughout the house. We did the normal fun things children do: play games, dance, help in the garden, play in the yard with the hose, make homemade icecream and so on- but for me- the real magic was in my grandpa's shop. Just up the hill from the house was a building, again designed and built by my grandfather and family- where Grandpa Tom spent countless hours working on his passion: woodworking. The light was different here than other places. The air was filled with tiny wood particles, giving the effect of softer light- thicker and warm. The smell was wonderful- fresh wood sat everywhere- tools all in thier places. The old chalkboard held all of grandpa's latest ideas and the last few tallies of games played on the dart board. The old worn red boxing bag hung defeated in the middle of the room- and always, and I mean always there was a Mariner's game on the television, counting off the plays. Here was the birthplace of my involved relationship for art.