When I was around eight or nine years old, I told my father, "I'm going to be an artist when I grow up!" He neither persuaded or dissuaded me from following my dream, only advising that I take some business courses in college. "Artists are lousy business people."
I split the difference by getting a degree in graphic design at the University of Florida. Working as a designer in Atlanta for eighteen years, I also completed many free-lance illustration assignments for newspapers, magazines and non-profit businesses. During that time, I began writing stories centered around some of my portfolio illustrations, which is the opposite of the way it is usually done.
Moving back to Florida, I set a new course and entered the fine art business, showing my paintings and drawings in art fairs, galleries and museums for many years. Now writing and illustrating have become my biggest joys and ones to which I devote my time.