Biographical information. I was born in Atlanta, GA, and grew up there and in West Palm Beach, FL. When I was old enough to get out on my own, I moved back to Atlanta for college, work, and college (in that order). I dropped out of college the first time after only a year; then worked for several years in low-level jobs in retail and banking (long enough to learn that I needed more education if I was ever going to get anywhere); and finally back to school to complete my education.

I ended up with a Ph.D. in geography - specifically cartography, or mapmaking - and taught that subject for about 20 years, first at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and then at the University of South Carolina. Cartography is sometimes defined as the art and science of mapmaking : I always had a"feel" for art but never any formal training, so cartography enabled me to combine my attraction to artistic endeavors with a scientific application in a discipline that provided a job and paycheck. It was a good meshing of my needs and interests, although I was mostly unaware for a long time of how neatly things had fallen in place for me.

At some point a few years ago, I had the crazy notion that I wanted to try doing some clay sculpture, so I took a class with Britta Cruz at the local Parks and Recreation studio. That did it! I was immediately in love with sculpting; it felt so right, so natural. Within a year I had retired from my position at the university and began my sculpting full time. It's a new, wonderful, fulfilling life for me ... not a second childhood but a second adulthood.