As far back as I can remember, I was always fascinated by art and music. I spent many hours copying comic book art of all types, from Mad magazine to Disney characters. When I was still in grade school, my budding talent was encouraged by art teachers to the point where I only had to spend half a day in class and then could spend the rest of the school day drawing, painting and learning crafts like creating a silk screen from scratch. It certainly seemed I was headed for a career in commercial art someplace. Until fate stepped in. At the same time I was...more