When Rey was 22 years old she got a bad bout of strep throat and not long after that started to get severe nerve pain, swelling, & stiffness in her hands, followed by intense pelvic floor pains, extreme fatigue, and her personal favorite (not) hair loss. After years of trial and error tests, treatment, and diagnosis - it came to light that Rey was now living with a TWO "incurable" auto immune diseases that were laying dormant within her and made irreversibly active by the bad bout of strep throat. Realizing that what she was experiencing was something that could not be fixed or healed - only managed - was devastating... but not impossible. Because of this health journey, Rey took the plunge into NFTs because she needed to be in an environment where she could make less work, at a higher quality, and sell it at a higher price. Rey was fortunate to have found some success in this and was ultimately asked by the NFT platform KnownOrigin to be an Inclusion Ambassador where she gets to help spotlight artwork made by artists around the world like herself living with chronic conditions or disabilities.
ABOUT
HOW IT STARTED:
Rey has been an artist for as long as she can remember and graduated in 2017 with her BFA. College was challenging for her and became even more difficult in 2014 when she lost her father tragically to suicide by overdose, leaving her with C-PTSD. Needless to say it was rough. One day she decided she needed to change her life so she went to her local animal shelter. That’s where she saw Basil. Basil truly saved Rey's life. It’s been many years now and they have been together everyday since then. Two years after Basil was rescued, Rey met the love of her life, and together they went back to the kill-shelter and rescued a dog they named Seven, and then a cat named Stormie, and then another cat named Saint, and eventually a 3rd cat they named Ocho. Because of her animals Rey is really passionate about adopting and getting pets spayed and neutered - ideas she works hard to promote through her art and on her social media. With each adoption Rey's heavy heart started to heal and her passion for art rekindled; she had found joy in painting portraits of her own animals - and soon started to donate portraits to her local shelters to help garner attention for special needs, and senior pets needing homes. Being able to give back to animals and her community helped Rey heal and is what unintentionally is started her pet portrait business which has now been going strong for 3+ years.
HOW IT'S GOING:
