By Linda Sagastume

Instructor at Bemis School of Art for 13 years. Lifelong learner and devoted to supporting the arts in Colorado Springs. This is her hometown! Her work has been featured in Somerset Studio magazines numerous times and her work primarily with acrylics and mixed media. She loves encouraging artists, both adults and youth, to tap into their unique creative intuition and learn to trust it. Her garden butterfly "The Secret Garden" is inspired by the classic book of the same name. It is a story that represents a metaphor for life itself, and the intrinsic need people and living things have to be cared for. It is a story of hope, and friendship, where flowers refresh the spirit by tending to a neglected garden which brings health to broken souls.

Bringing beauty to the outdoor spaces is what motivates her involvement with Wings of Change. She first painted a butterfly. Georgia's Wings, in 2015 for the year of O'Keeffe at the Fine Arts Center. Margaret Sabin, CEO of Penrose Hospital purchased it for the atrium garden area at the hospital. "It was such an honor to have my piece purchased for a place of healing." In 2023 she felt led to paint a butterfly again, also with a Georgia O'Keeffe theme. It took her a while to figure out how to move forward for 2024 and what type of design to pursue. Then the Secret Garden came to mind, and with Wings of Change being the new format for painting butterflies, it was perfect...a time for her to change directions with her design too. She has taught The Secret Garden art class at Bemis to both children and adults for many years. It always brings out beautiful creativity in students and she sees their work blossom into little masterpieces. It is her hope that "The Secret Garden'' butterfly will land in a place where the purchaser will understand the beauty of caring for living things.