This is the story of how I got started as a designer. I first began drawing as a child and coloring in those coloring books your mother used to buy to keep you busy. Well, I loved to color, so when I filled in all the pages, I would then grab a blank sheet of paper and try to draw another picture to color.

Later on, I began taking art classes in grade school and in junior high. I never really noticed my artistic abilities until others began to ask me to draw them all sorts of things. At the age of 11, I was assigned a school project to paint a bird. I painted a beautiful bird with colors of the rainbow and my teacher loved It so much that It was hung up in the school hallway in a glass window for everyone to see. Another staff member of the school saw the painting and called me to ask if she could purchase the painting to hang in her new home. I was shocked and flattered. That day, I sold my first painting for $5.