My Work with Hippie Haven Ink LLC and MaddieFruit

In May of 2021 my cousin Kelly went missing. It was a devastating time for me and my family. I was lost and confused and wanted answers. I went to my local flea market and sought the advice of a psychic medium. While I am not always a strong believer (I believe in God and ghosts but I'm skeptical of Mediums) but I felt desperate and needed someone to guide me. While this woman and friend of mine could have given me false promises and hidden messages, she instead told me about a friend of hers who recently lost her daughter and was starting a non-profit in her daughters honor. She brought me to the back of the flea market, to three booths covered in artwork, signs and bright colors. It was here, at the Hippie Haven, where I met Valerie Maud, owner and founder of MaddieFruit.

In 2020, Maud, often referred to simply as Val, lost her daughter in a domestic violence incident. Her daughter, Madison (Maddie) was a young girl who was murdered by her abuser when she tried to leave him. It is an impossibly heavy grief to lose a child, yet Val stood tall. She fights every day to see her daughters killer be brought to justice, and uses her non-profit to support artists and her community, as well as provide resources and assistance for survivors of domestic violence. Val seeks to create a place where people can heal together.

Our 12/22 Full Moon Market at Chill Cawfee in Brandon. I am in the middle row, three from the left, and Val is in the front middle next to The Grinch.

Needless to say, Val and I hit it off well. Despite our age difference, a generational gap that sometimes feels hard to cross, we bonded over our grief and sought to help one another learn how to grow around the most traumatic moments of our lives.

For about a year, I made art and sold it out of the Hippie Haven, I volunteered my time and services there, sometimes upwards for 20 hours a week. I would make tea for customers, signs for other vendors, and donated part of the money back into the charity. For the last two years, Val has been doing markets around Hillsborough county, collecting more artists and spreading her story and healing. I have been a live artist at many of these markets, and have recently started using my spot there to raise money for other causes close to my heart, like local animal shelters, local DV shelters and John Hopkins All Children's Hospital.