An art class in junior high set Charla Enns on her career path. The Enid artist said, "I found my happy place when I found that. This is what I love doing."

As she continued through high school in Enid, she filled up her schedule with art classes. "I decided when I went to college that I would like to teach art," she said. At Phillips University in Enid, she finished a bachelor's degree in fine arts.

Her teaching career began at Longfellow Junior High in Enid where she taught for 13 years. The last three years of that time she also taught at Emerson Junior High. Then she moved to Enid High School where she taught for six more years.

"I adopted my little girl and took a year off for a sabbatical," she said. "Then I decided to teach online for K-12. That's what I'm still currently doing."

During her time teaching, she was also making art. "The best way to get better at what you're doing is truly to teach," said Enns. "Because when you need to teach it to someone, you get faster at it. You're spending your days doing it.

"Even though you have all this time taking classes before, the teaching itself allows you to be better and more creative. You try out different things that otherwise maybe you wouldn't because you're teaching to a broad range of students who like different things."

Although she's tried all kinds of art media in teaching, Enns says her favorites are oil painting and acrylics, charcoals and pastels. "I'm more of two-dimensional artist," she said. "I love to do landscapes and flowers and things that you find in nature. I'm married to a farmer so I'm always, when I'm out on the farm, looking for the beauty found in nature."

You can enjoy Enns' work during May at the Graceful Arts Gallery in Alva. To see more of her work, visit her website at http://www.CharlaEnns.com.