When I was a child, drawing was one of my favorite pastimes (as it is for many children) and I still have a large box of childhood drawings.  In college, I was able to fit in a few art courses -- but early on I decided to major in something that might pay, and to keep art as a hobby.  Hence -- math.

Armed with undergraduate and graduate degrees in math, my first and only salaried job (discounting the usual college jobs of waitressing in a restaurant and clerking in a school office) was with RTI, a contract research organization.  After graduate school, working at RTI felt as though I'd died and gone to heaven.  During the early years I enjoyed it so much that I was amazed that I actually got paid to do it.

As with most paid employment, things changed over time.  With increasing responsibilities, my RTI work became less and less fun, and then became actually unpleasant.  Many days I dreaded going to work.  So, on a sudden impulse, I pulled a "Johnny Paycheck" -- one Monday I drove to work, went to the personnel office, and resigned on the spot ("Take this job and shove it"), then got in my car and drove back home.

This was my chance to once again try to do something I enjoyed.  I signed up for a few college extension art courses -- basic drawing, basic watercolor, portraits, and pastels.  I started making my name signs for children (which at one time were sold through four local stores) and I produced my hidden-name flower watercolors.  With the passing months and years I thought of even more things I wanted to draw or paint, and some of those things are still here on my website.

Sweetie also intruduced me to the pleasures of taking weeklong arts classes at Arrowmont, in Gatlinburg, Tennessee -- "summer camp for adults" as I call it.  First I learned paper marbling.  Then came a series of classes in dyeing cottons and silks (more raw materials for quilting and for clothes).  I've also been fortunate to attend local day-long workshops taught by many famous quilters.  And Sweetie and I have together taken crafts classes at the NSCU Crafts Center in a variety of things, including silver-smithing, cloisonne enamelling, and lampworked glass beads.  (Now I need to work all those other materials into my quilted wall hangings.)

So far, in quilting, I am playing with several widely differing styles.  I enjoy making what many call "art quilts" ~~ wall hangings of non-traditional construction incorporating non-traditional materials.  At the same time I feel satisfaction in traditional quilting whenever the points match, the quilt is straight and flat, and the design and colors sparkle.  I love designing my own patterns, some of which are for sale.  And I'm developing a passion for miniature quilts (still the same time to make, but easier to display).  In short, I'm experimenting with lots of quilt styles and, to date, have enjoyed everything I've tried.

In a large research institution, most employees are only small facets of huge projects, few employees receive any recognition (beyond their paychecks) for their work, and a personal accomplishment can be rare, hard to describe to family and friends, and intangible.  One of the great satisfactions of what I do now, as compared to my former job at RTI, is being able to make something with my hands, then hold it and look at it and think "I made this."  If someone else likes it too -- particularly if they like it enough to pay me for it -- then that's a bonus.