LEFT: WORKING IN THE STUDIO. UPPER RIGHT: DETAIL OF tOAS bOTTOM rIGHT: DETAIL sTANDING pROUD
I was born in the Plateau Region of Virginia. The people, including my ancestors, who settled that area, came from the British Isles and Europe, They tamed the land with ingenuity, built shelters with crude hand tools and learned to survive by adapting to the elements. It is that pioneering spirit that has inbred in me confidence to try tactile techniques of application.
After graduating from Orange High School, I took a commercial art course at the Washington School of Art in Washington, D.C. Employment at State Farm Insurance Company in Richmond provided me the opportunity to use my training by making visual aids for agents.
In Daytona Beach, Florida, where I re-located, I met and married James Parker. With the birth of our first child, I resigned from State Farm Insurance. Subsequently, we had two more children. Staying home with the three children and being involved with their activities such as being Girl Scout leader, gave me the chance to use many of the skills acquired in the commercial art courses.
The local college became accredited and I enrolled, continuing on at the Daytona Campus of the University of Central Florida where I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree.