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For the first ten years of my present art journey my tag line was, “I’ve never had a class and never had a lesson.”  You see, as a child and pre-teen I often dabbled in painting, but at the start of my teenage years, I felt I had to put the brushes aside to concentrate on my schoolwork.  Having some challenging learning disabilities, it did not seem that there was room for my art with the demands of the school curriculum, especially of science and math.  Growing up in an upper middle-class environment, there was always pressure to succeed and as high school years turned into college years, engineering school became the path of choice, seemingly greatly opposed to the world of art.  

It took almost forty years for enough time to pass that I could once again tap into the art space of my heart.  I found myself in a season of life where the nest was empty and the days were longer. And at 50 years of age, I decided to pull out an easel and some acrylic paints that I had received as a Christmas present and start finding my way back to my love of painting.  

At about that ten-year point, it became clear to me that I had taken myself as far as I could in painting in my studio on my own. I desired to know more and grow in my craft, and to do that I would need to pursue a mentor relationship that would take me to those next levels. With help and guidance from some truly gifted and generous art mentors, whom I now call my friends, I have found myself in this present day space. For their truthful critique, and help in building a formal foundation of the fundamentals that was missing from doing it on my own, and changing my painting medium from acrylic to oil, I will always be eternally grateful.