Live to paint and paint to live--Wendy Schaefer & Kevin Miles

On a Monday afternoon, while following the lead of our combined four children, my sister and I found ourselves at the local Kwik Trip. The kiddos had far more energy than either of us by this point and I was doing my best to maintain my laid-back, calm, cool and collected self as my three year old begged for rice crispy treats, juice and sunglasses and then insisted that she be the door opener and closer of the bathroom (as I changed my four-month old's diaper) and my sister waited somewhat (understandably) impatiently with her two-year old and five-year old. As I stood outside of the bathroom waiting for my daughter to open the door (this is her greatest life pleasure for some reason) smiling as I reflected on what my life has become, a flyer advertising painting classes caught my eye. The next evening, after taking our kids to a dairy farm (as my teacher-sister thought it would be important for the kids to understand where milk comes from scheduled a visit), and we peeled our children off of our legs (convincing them that grandma would take good care of them for two hours), we found ourselves sipping wine and water in the Schaefer-Miles studio. As we painted along and chatted, I became intrigued with the artist-couple's unique story and knew they were a perfect fit for my next book. In true form, I invited myself back to their studio for an interview. Here is a snippet of their intriguing story.