Growing up in Houston Texas in the sixties and early seventies was both nurturing and liberating. Our public education system was experimenting with after-school programs so in 1967 at Herod Elementary, I signed up for art. I went to Bellaire High School and won an honorable mention in the District Spring Art Contest affording me my first class at the Museum of Fine Arts School. I went to Kansas City Art Institute to get a BFA in painting. In 2000, I started teaching Art in HISD. Through my time as an art teacher, I taught at all levels and in multiple districts including HISD, CFISD, and Klein ISD. After 21 years of teaching, I have now retired and am painting full-time.