I was fortunate enough to have a first grade teacher who recognized my artistic ability and parents who encouraged and facilitated my growth.  I began studying at 8 years old with private teachers until it was offered in high school.  My first job, in high school was at a local department store designing window displays and drawing the fashion ads for the newspaper.  Drawing figures and designing clothes (that my mother often would make for me) was my favorite pastime.  After graduating with a Bachelor’s in Fine Art from Wesleyan College in Macon, Ga. I applied and was accepted into the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.  However,  an acceptance into the graduate program in fine art at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC.  preceded  the one from F.I.T. and for several reasons I chose to attend there.  I realized that my heart was not in what I was doing and I really didn’t have  “anything to say” with my art so I left for a real job.  That job, with the mail order catalog, Charles Keath, Ltd., afforded me the opportunity to use my creativity in many ways though painting was not among them.  After 9 years and a company buyout, I decided it was time to return to art.