Mandalay Fine Art

Diversity Collective, founded in 2014, is a community-based 501(c)3 nonprofit governed by a volunteer board of directors and volunteer advisory board. Our mission is providing advocacy, visibility, safety, and wellness for the LGBTQ+ community. We do this work via our community resource center, programs, and community-building events.Our Vision is A Ventura County community where LGBTQ+ individuals, inclusive of all intersecting identities, have immediate access to needed services, are celebrated, and treated with equity and respect.

SpecialtiesMy father was a hard working truck driver and instilled in me from my youth that college was not as important as working hard. I worked hard from the time I was fourteen years old and it wasn't until my late thirties that I realized I had very little to show for it except failed relationships. Most of my fellow high school graduates who had gone on to college had successful careers. I went back to school and became a Registered Nurse. I found myself drawn to work in hospice. My intuition and empathy served me well in all of my work. Although my work was very meaningful to me, I needed an outlet to express my creativity. From a very young age I had an interest in art. I admired people who could draw, and I loved to watch them as they created images from thin air. Since I couldn't draw anything recognizable, I felt like I could never be an artist. I was skilled at writing however, and poetry just came to me as if some ethereal being were whispering in my ear. Music was another outlet for me. I have always been passionate about music and enjoy a wide range of genres from classical to rap. I feel every note as it floods my senses. As music pulses into my ears, I feel its vibrations resonating in my heart and filling some unconscious primal need in the depths of my soul. After self-publishing a book of poetry and not knowing how to market it, I struggled with depression. To lift my spirits, I purchased some bright neon paints and some art boards and began painting...