Early Influences

I remember painting in kindergarten and first grade. Those huge jugs of watery tempura paint and stiff brushes with layers of hard, chipped paint covering the handles. That pretty much described the easels as well. I wanted to be out in the hallway painting for hours each day, but we were only allowed out there once every couple of weeks. That was where I painted my rendering of the Statue of Liberty. I won an award for it. Looking at it years later I realized that it was a pretty realistic silhouette. Undoubtedly, this was one of the places that inspired my art career years later. The other place would have been at my grandmother's dining room table making crafts with construction paper, glue and glitter.