My childhood refuge was to immerse myself in the natural world around me. This eventually led to the University of Southern Mississippi, a 1982 Bachelor of Fine Arts, and a 1984 Illustration Course at Parsons School of Design in New York, NY. Not finding a job in the arts field, I joined the federal government in the mid-80s, and eventually retired in Washington, DC as a paralegal. After moving to the Gulf Coast, I converted my new garage into an artist’s studio, and revived my interest in abstracts and my talents in acrylics and watercolors. I participated in art markets, artists’ co-ops, galleries and art shows, even winning awards and mounting a 6-month one-man show. To satisfy my cravings for new avenues of creativity, I began experimenting with digital photos of nature, architecture and my own artwork, altering colors and combining images in multiple overlays. By the time I moved to St Petersburg, Florida in 2016, I was wholly committed to the digital art world. Now my tools for expressing myself as an artist have changed: I work with clean hands — no brushes, no pencils, no splattered acrylics, watercolors or oils — and I can take new photographs and work digitally from any location. Each digital image is my personal expression of inspiration from the real world, explored and revealed through my own artistic imagination.