I was born in Germany and grew up in an Polish immigrant community in St. Louis, Mo. Money was in short supply and my entertainment was my imagination. Playing concertos on a pencil drawn piano, doodling and coloring on the imprint on a paper dinner napkin, or making up poems and stories were some of my favorite activities. My creative journey included watching my father paint amazing portraits, florals, and wall murals and my interest continued off and on throughout marriage, raising a family, and intensified when I retired a few years ago. I now prefer painting landscapes and florals with acrylics on stretched canvas.