I began to paint around age five. At first, by using the back of calendars, coconuts, conch shells, bamboo, sea drifted wood, and other organic material found around the beaches of my hometown in Puerto Cortes. I came from a large, poor family of 8, we didn't have access to canvas, so I used what was available, while trying to be careful, without getting into trouble. Painted flowers on my grandma's straw hats, when she didn't get upset, I moved toward experimenting with her Sunday-go-to-church hat, but swiftly realized that was definitely a no, no. When I first relocated to Connecticut from the US Virgin Islands, while paying for college, supporting my children, etc., I realized I couldn't afford to pay for stretch canvases, so I collected pizza boxes from my classmates and colleagues at work. Mounted a huge collection of paintings, which I later accidentally lost. So life is art… the art of living.