Born in Metairie and raised in Baton Rouge, La.
Wife to Timothy and mother of three beautiful children~
Caroline, Andrew & Olivia
Ever since I can remember, I have been drawing, painting and creating. I remember making friendship bracelets and pins. It was always something! I took a few art classes and painted some in college. Before kids came along, I started creating jewelry pieces and sold them in my circle of friends and at small shows. Then my first daughter was born in 2001 and I painted her art for her nursery. Then that lead to painting for others and Whimsy Doodles was born! Over the years, I had developed quite a portfolio for children's art. Then as my kids continue to grow, so had my passion for fine art. After moving into new home in 2010, I needed to fill up some wall space. With a limited budget for decorating and "I can make it myself" mentality, I decided to go abstract with my painting. I began experimenting with various mediums and textures and painting. I really enjoyed it and want ed to soak up every aspect of art around me! I began my selling my art in a local home and decor boutique for a while. Then in the late August of 2011, I began working again after being a "stay at home mom" for 9 years. I became the Preschool director of Christ Covenant Preschool (formerly Southside Baptist Preschool). Starting this new job and having been the co owner of The Baton Rouge Smock Market since 2009, I quickly realized that there was not much time to paint. As you probably know, managing a family and working outdside of the home left little time for hobbies. Over the years I have been faced with various challenges but in the fall of 2012, came the biggest challenge of them all. I had surgery on my tongue to remove a malignant tumor, surgery on the left side of my neck to remove my lymph nodes followed by 6 weeks of radiation in January of 2013. I was truly humbled by the whole experience and know that God was with me through it all and I am so thankful it was not worse. Without His grace and the support of my family and friends, I would not have been where I am today. I have side effects from treatment that are my "new normal" but continue to have regular check ups and clear scans. I am so blessed and thankful to be on the other side of it and I count my blessings daily. After four years at Christ Covenant Preschool, I stepped down to open up a preschool at my home church. In 2015 we opened Grace Life Preschool. We are beginning our third year in the fall of 2017 and it has truly been awesome to be a part of such a fabulous program with an amazing staff. With three older kids now and my full time position at the preschool, my business partner and I decided to sell The Baton Rouge Smock Market. It has been an awesome adventure and I will miss dressing our little ones in those sweet southern styles. I love to paint still and have started making jewelry again. I need a creative outlet and since I don't read much, creating art and jewelry is how I relax. However, my primary roles right now are wife and mom and preschool director. With that being said, I have to grab time when it is available~often a few minutes here and there. Hence my tagline~kathryn chalas designs...five minutes at a time!"
