I graduated from Wichita Heights High school in 1972 knowing that I wanted to pursue art as a career, but how? I’d been drawing for all my young life, knowing it was something that brought me great joy. I spent a semester at Wichita State University and soon found it wasn’t the right fit for me. I ended up at Bethany College in the art-filled small town of Lindsborg, Kansas and absolutely loved it. After graduating in 1977 I headed out to the ocean and the great Pacific Northwest and landed in Seattle. I earned an MFA at Washington State University in 1981 studying with the likes of Gaylen Hansen, Pat Siler, Bob Helm, Arthur Okazaki and the amazing Jim and Jo Hockenhull. In 1983 I headed north to Alaska to help my sister Kate run a fish store.
Soon fish and science took over my budding career.