As many of you may know, I lost my sister and best friend on 2-13-2020 to suicide. This flipped my world upside down and backwards, and to be candid, I almost didn't pull myself out of it. I experienced the deepest depression/anxiety, and thought of suicide being the answer for my mental suffering weekly...most times daily for about 6 or 7 months after she passed. I couldn't fathom putting my fami
ly through losing another to suicide. Around August, I started to make some changes. I had realized the path I was taking and what I was doing to cope was never going to allow me to start the healing process. So...I quit my job and decided to leave the field of Human Services for at least a year until I am able to heal a bit more. I sold/donated and threw away about half of my personal belongings. I found myself in love after being single for many years, and I moved out of state to Michigan. I wanted to stay close enough to family, yet as far away as possible from roads, restaurants, cities, and shops that reminded me of Niki. Those changes saved. I remember my last Christmas with my sister in 2019. She had made many of the family members mason jar lid resin coasters with pictures of her and other members of the family. Looking back, a big part of me cant help but think she wanted us to have a memory of her that she made with her own hands. Just before I moved, I had gotten rid of ALL my art supplies that I had collected over the years. I was convinced I could never express myself creatively again because of how intense the devastation, hurt, and pain was both mentally and emotionally. I also felt immense guilt at the thought of enjoying literally anything in life. I found myself replaying that day, that week, the months prior to and after her suicide in my head over and over again almost incessantly. I needed an escape. A HEALTHY escape. I thought of those wonderful resin coasters she made. I started watching "how to" videos surrounding everything RESIN. I became almost obsessed and incredibly intrigued so much so that I used my whopping ;) second stimulus check to buy all things resin. I was hooked after my first piece, even with its imperfections. I started to feel like me again. For the first time in almost a year, I felt alive. Resin art helped and continues to help me heal. Its provided me an ESCAPE when I have too much going on upstairs, and just need to ground myself. So..I reach out to my best buds Krystle and Kyle over at Altered State of Mind and asked if they would be willing to put my pieces in their store to which they thankfully said yes (not surprisingly as they have always supported my both mentally, emotionally, and creatively.) I wanted to do resin art consistently and share it with others. Resin is a pricey hobby so I knew I had to sell my pieces to keep up. I knew Altered State of Mind was the perfect place to start. So here I am in 2021 ...starting a new small business doing something I absolutely love! My sister always called me a hippie, so I knew I had to incorporate that into the name. I wanted to add ESCAPE into the name as well because it gave me a healthy escape from life as I mentioned above, and nlb are her initials. Nicolette Lee Bell. Also...fun fact..I'm obsessed with tie-dye, so that was a must in creating the business cards as well. HippiEscape nlb. Pronounced Hip-E-Scape n.l.b. I create one of a kind and custom pieces that are perfectly imperfect. I'm learning that sometimes my pieces do not come out exactly as I envisioned, but that's the beauty in it all...just as life is. Please enjoy my art as I share it with you. My pieces will mainly be available at Altered Sate of Mind with the launch date set for March 2nd, 2021, but I would also love to make custom pieces to send you directly to your homes! Please be patient with me as you navigate this page as this is all very new to me. My goal is to make the page easy to follow and navigate so that my customers are aware of the many options and color combinations available. Thank you for taking the time to read my (incredibly long...lol) vision. Peace, Love, and Herbs beautiful humans.
