The owner of a new Richland integrative arts studio never planned to become an artist.

“My life is a creative work in progress,” said owner Lexie Forbes with a laugh.

Forbes recently opened Yellow Dog Integrative Arts Studio at 214-B Torbett St.

She envisions the space being used for all kinds of classes — some she’ll teach, like acrylic painting — and others will be taught by community members.

They all won’t be painting classes either, she said. They’ll range from fiber arts to water colors, to tai chi and yoga, to paper crafts and music.

“I want there to be a lot of activity going on here. I want independent artisans here to have a creative environment for all different kinds of healthy, creative things,” she said.

More teaching studios are needed in the Tri-Cities, said Gail Roadhouse, a retired painting therapist, full-time professional artist and part-time instructor who has lived in the Tri-Cities for 21 years.

“I teach at The Reach and Allied Arts gallery and the classes fill up quickly.  We are in serious need of more teaching studios for all age groups. Our Tri-City area is very large and there is less and less art in our classrooms,” said Roadhouse, who will be teaching kids ages 7 to 14 years old to make Valentine’s cards at Yellow Dog on Feb. 1.

The airy studio is family-friendly as teaching children is close to Forbes’ heart.

She spent about eight months teaching acrylic painting classes — many to kids — at Kat Millicent Custom Art in the Richland Uptown Shopping Center, but she said she’s been dreaming about owning her own studio for years.

The studio can be rented for $35 an hour for one to five hours a month, $30 an hour for five to 10 hours a month, or $25 an hour for more than 10 hours a month. It also can be rented for all-occasion parties and other events, Forbes said.

Forbes, who grew up in the Palouse, said her path to becoming an artist began after her children finished high school.

The Richland artist, 60, said she felt her “creative life had taken a hit” and had been neglected.

So, she started drawing and taking art classes.

She also began connecting with other artists because “it fed my soul,” she said.

She wasn’t a confident artist — she cried the first time her artwork was seen in public.

Then, in 2002, she landed a job painting a 12-by-50-foot mural for Gritman Medical Center in Moscow, Idaho.

“I had gone from this crying over my stuff being seen to ‘I can paint in front of people,’” she said, explaining the mural was a monthlong public process.

When her husband took a job in Colorado, she began working for a nonprofit that did mission work in Ecuador. There, she painted more murals.

She soon started teaching art to children after a co-worker who volunteered at a private school asked her for advice on how best to do it.

She taught for more than 10 years, mostly in a remote log cabin north of Colorado Springs, and found it to be “very consuming and rewarding and purposeful.”

In 2012, her life took a new direction when she woke up and heeded the voice in her head that told her she had thyroid cancer.

“I figured if God was talking to me, I best listen,” she said.

Doctors confirmed her suspicion and discovered it had spread to the lymph nodes. Her cancer treatments and subsequent recovery forced her to cut back her work hours as she struggled with fatigue, memory issues and a slow physical recovery.

She said the cancer made her reevaluate her priorities and eventually brought her to the Tri-Cities to care for her aging 84-year-old mother and to open the new studio.

Yellow Dog Integrative Arts Studio is named for her 7-year-old dog Lucy, a lab mix, who used to be a regular visitor when she taught in Colorado. Lucy provided comfort to anxious children struggling to read. “They would put their hand on her and she would calm them down,” she said.

Forbes said she hopes to work with retirement homes, cancer survivors, caregivers, autistic children and anyone who needs a creative release.

“Sitting in creative community — it’s good for your health and good for your mental health. I see a benefit in that,” she said.

A grand opening is planned in the spring.

For more information and upcoming class schedules, call 719-510-1260, email lexie.yellowdog@gmail.com or find Yellow Dog Integrative Arts Studio on Facebook.