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As a child I loved to draw. I grew up and decided to go into art. I was going to study illustration in college but then a very inspiring professor changed my direction to graphic design.

After graduation I went into the design field and worked in advertising agencies as a production artist. Those were the days before computers, when everything printed was pasted together. I remained in the production field through the advent of the computer. On a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium bookstore I found Hannah Hinchman's book "A Life in Hand, the illuminated journal" in the bookstore. Wow, the book inspired me, but I was very intimated because I hadn't drawn in years. I bought more books (all those by Cathy Johson and some by Claudia Nice and Claire Walker Leslie) Then a friend and co-worker, Christina Lopp, went to Paris and came home with an illustrated journal of her trip. Though not a professional artist, her drawings were so charming. I loved seeing Paris through her eyes. I went out and bought a watercolor kit and a cheap book and started keeping a journal. That was 12 years ago and I have been drawing and journaling ever since. Amazingly as I drew regularly my drawing skills improved.

Journaling has changed the direction of my life. Christina Lopp and I started teaching illustrated journaling in 1996. Now I combine my graphic design background with my new drawing skills to create wayside panels for State Parks in my interpretive design firm Wildways illustrated.

I took a class in web design and for fun created a website to show local habitats. I posted it on a free site just to see if it worked. It is unfinished so not all the links work, but you can get an idea of where I live and what lives near me. You can see it here.

wildlife08.tripod.com/

My design firm's website is

www.wildwaysillustrated.com/