Biography

My name is Stephanie Anderson. My wife and three children moved from Colorado earlier in 2022 and have settled into the Pacific Northwest hoping to make it our permanent home. I earned a Master’s degree in Behavioral Health Science and spent my career working in human services including inpatient crisis care, case management for incarcerated offenders and vulnerable populations with co-occurring physical and mental health disorders and as Director in Memory Care.

In 2015, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. My father also had MS and died from complications in May 2011. For several years after my diagnosis, I was looking for healthy outlets to manage my stress and combat my disease. In 2018, I relocated to Tulsa and chose a house that happened to have an art studio in the attic. At our lease signing we found out it was originally owned by the painter Alexander Hogue. After we moved in, we used the space as a family room, but I was so inspired by the space I set up my first art studio in an unused corner.

I painted with acrylics for several years, but during the Pandemic I bought my first oil set. I watched some tutorials and immediately started a little painting of cherries (which I never finished) and that was it. I fell in love with oils and jumped right in and completed my first oil painting, “Colorful & Grey.” Additionally, I started playing roller derby in 2011 with the 580 Rollergirls, and have trained with multiple teams including Tulsa’s Roughnecks, Red River Roller Derby, Washington County’s Crow City Roller Derby and the Rose City Rollers in Portland. I also enjoy year-round gardening, baking with sourdough and spoiling our three Ragdoll cats.