The original Long Story

I am an Artist.

The rest is kind of a long story:

I started out as an actor. I did the singing, the dancing, Meisner method and some Stanislovski.


I worked with a few companies where everyone did everything and discovered I was good at scenic painting - and more importantly, I enjoyed it - so I painted for an opera company for a while. (fun times, BIG sets [I mean 50' drops], and good music).
.
I felt like I should get a degree (as did my parents. Strongly.) so I went to the State University of New York at Fredonia and earned a Bachelors of Fine Art in Theatrical Design.
.
Wanderlust (round #1) hit me about the time my first class of the last semester started so I took a summer job as charge artist in Utah.
Utah was great and I worked with a bunch of great companies in Utah from huge sets for the Utah Symphony Opera to tiny sets with Salt Lake Acting Company, but in the end Utah was Utah and a bit too visually bland for my eyes.
.
So, I went back to the Twilight Zone.
I went back to the Tri-Cities Opera Company and worked with the door open so I could paint to gorgeous arias and Verdi melodies.
I set up the concerts and shows that came through.
I showed at a few galleries.
A few years into my New York, Round 2 time a small private college hired me to teach a few classes and design the sets and costumes. (I only have a bachelors, so this was quite a coup.)
.
.
{does she know this is a long story?}
Yeah, I'm a writer as well.  Don't worry, I keep my emails to the point.
.
.
The position at Wells College got bigger and bigger.
I moved closer to the college, to Ithaca, the land of waterfalls, 10 sq. mi. surrounded by reality.
I did some cool designs and I taught some folks to research and find their style and tell a story and find their inspiration. I found my own inspiration and did some amazing installation work and wrote a book called Viva la Revolution.
But the college needed to make tough decisions and was moving away from the arts towards the sciences.
.
And then....
.
Wanderlust (part #2) hit.

I wanted to see the country, see things that I had never seen before. I wanted to talk to people from Georgia and Oklahoma and Colorado who had never been 100 miles from where they were born and chat with people who had traveled the world.

I found myself taking the (not)yellow (not)brick road that leads to the Emerald City: Seattle.  First, it seemed like a good place to spend a few weeks, then a good place to winter, and it just kept getting better.  I showed my art, I designed logos and theatre sets, got to be in a movie, performed painting with bands, and lived with other artists.

And suddenly....

It was over.
It was time to leave.
Time to go back east.
Traveling again.
Back to the Twilight Zone, the whirlpool of the confluence that draws those who drink from it back, time and time again.

And the adventure continues....