Creativity has been in my life from day one. My maternal grandmother was very creative and my father liked to draw cartoon characters. As a child, I was provided time and materials to create anything I wanted to. I still have my first watercolor and many of my early works and it is so interesting to see how I have progressed over the years. While my parents thought creating art was a good hobby, they did not see it as a career path and insisted that I go to college and become a doctor. I ran away instead, working various jobs and creating art. Eventually, I wanted to go to college for art but that voice inside my head still said I would starve as an artist. Fortunately for me I found a degree program that would allow me to be creative and became a graphic designer. In the early days it was fun because I did draw, hand letter, cut and paste the advertising materials. I always continued to draw and paint throughout my 40-year career, but my heart always wanted to do more than be a hobby artist. Over the past 10 years I have really put my heart into becoming a full-time artist and am having some success, winning awards, selling works and teaching others. I couldn’t imagine my life without art. And neither should anyone else.