BIOGRAPHY: Mark Feuring … My grandfather worked for the Wabash Railroad in the Famous-Barr building in downtown St. Louis from after WWII through the 1960s. He would come into work dressed in a top hat and tie, only to spend an hour eating breakfast and reading the newspapers downtown. He would greet his boss, go to his locker, put on a brown jumpsuit, and head to the shop to repair office furniture and build frames for railroad office employees. He said, "On the 13th floor, they would open the windows and let the sawdust fly.

 

My grandfather's father was a house builder, and both worked for the highway department in the late 1920s for 10 cents an hour through a 10-hour day. My grandpa worked in a bullet factory in North St. Louis during WWII. My family heritage and culture have always driven an excellent work ethic and moral value: "make something every day, take time to put something together." Schemes for working education toward the building-block agenda occur in every community. Self-recognition in the arts and crafts builds through critiques and paradigms as a designer and should occur alongside project definitions.

 

I attended the "Passenger Club" meetings with R.R. retirees monthly at an Italian restaurant on The Hill in St. Louis, Missouri. The train and railroad history stories of engines and employees' agendas helped motivate me. After college, as I was starting to pursue art and design vocations, my grandfather lived with me for six years and was my best mentor and teacher. My grandfather's boss liked him so much. He would say, "Cliff, when you build me that piece of furniture and picture frame for my house, build yourself one." When his boss moved to Virginia to run a railroad, he set my grandpa and his wife up in a domed car to ride through the mountains for a visit. He would have him at his new home on that trip to hang his pictures and set up the furniture transitions.

 

My mom and dad worked for the Terminal Railroad in St. Louis Union Station. My mom did secretarial work and could look out her window and see the Gateway Arch, built around 1963. My dad's first job at 17 was to run a printing press for the railroad. He later worked on the 3rd floor of Union Station at a drafting table plotting railroad lines "with elegant handwriting" for 17 years. He monitored the cotton-linen templates of the Eads Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River. Each stone has a scaled drawing in case of replacement.

 

Later, my dad was introduced to AutoCAD as a draftsman and was replaced by a computer tech. He soon joined the Railroad Security team and got more exercise. He knows every switch, rail, and yard from drafting the railroad maps of the surrounding St. Louis area. He was in the Army Reserves between 1956 and 1963. When the Terminal Railroad moved out of Union Station, the décor fell apart. A favorite movie, "Escape from New York," was filmed in downtown St. Louis, in the decrepit Union Station building.

 

While in the Boy Scouts of America, working on merit badges and completing schoolwork, I had many ideas for the future. Besides my dad telling me to get started early and saying he had no intention of helping me with anything at the last minute, I admired his planning and skills. In the early 1980s, he was given a series of three-ring binders as a draftsman to learn AutoCAD, and I helped him read and annotate the diagrams, but he never could understand the "smart machine."

 

While in college, St. Louis was designing a MetroLink rail system, and a team called my dad to serve as a project mentor. As a result, my dad gave me a lot of advice about the structure and supported building design elements. For example, after a shopping mall filled the place, new plans for the old Union Station building included interior aquariums.

 

​Throughout school, I enjoyed art-making and would enter art fairs in grade school. In addition, I enjoyed working with colored construction paper. I took art and architecture classes very seriously during my last two years in high school. During my senior year in high school, I completed art class credits, a drafting course covering mechanics and housing, and a graphic design class in which we used emulsion plates and printing presses.

 

The first college I attended was the University of Missouri at Columbia, where I studied necessary art and design courses, including figure drawing and photography. My professional interests and accompanying methods include environmental and housing design. I learned perspective drawing and darkroom techniques with film, and made interior design boards and 3D foam-core housing studies. My first catch of virtual reality was my Sony Walkman. The foam earphones made the audience's sounds seem so real.

 

After living in the dorms for a semester at M.U., I joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity with some high school friends. I was the pledge of the semester and made many friends. It was a great social experience, yet my devotion to the Design Arts led me to consider a better school program. I made up my degree by combining Photography, Architectural Rendering, and Design. We placed first in homecoming floats and house decks with the Chi Omega Sorority. We won the intercollegiate swimming competition, yet I was on the bench for our soccer team, which we also beat the Greek fraternities in 1990.

 

In my fourth semester at Mizzou, I decided to go another 200 miles to the University of Kansas. My application to Syracuse University in New York for its Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design program was also accepted. My interest in fine arts and illustrative painting led me to K.U. It was a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design. (M.U. 1989-1991 completed 46 hours, including 21 credit hours of introductory art/design courses)

 

After two years at Mizzou, I transferred to the University of Kansas. At the University of Kansas, I shifted my studies to Industrial Design. The courses included color theory, marker rendering, modeling, materials, and industrial design. Lessons on human factors, anthropometrics, and ergonomics for the interface between the human user and the product item were correlated. Studio symposiums with critiques each year, in which I developed student projects. I spent a lot of time building balsa wood and foam core models, covered with drywall and automotive compounds. Many art forms involved finishing the models with paint and assembling mock-up product prototypes and furniture-making projects to achieve the degree.

 

I learned to use the computer as a tool for communication. I used the card catalog at the K.U. Library for research, shop power woodworking tools for 3D visual communication, and typewriters to communicate paper assignments. I did not own a computer or e-mail address during my undergraduate studies.

 

Going to the Chemistry Library at K.U. to get research materials on anthropometric human dimensions was always fun. I would always consider this film titled "The Day After." A movie filmed in 1983 on the K.U. Campus, and actor John Lithgow broadcast on a C.B. radio from this library to locate survivors after the Cold War led to a Global Thermonuclear War. Atomic bombs dropped everywhere, yet the film covers precisely one in Kansas City. The University of Kansas set up a hospital for survivors in the movie. The movie aired on ABC and was broadcast on American Television to communicate the atrocity of Atomic Weapons. The film had no commercials, and the scenery and human depictions were spooky and terrifying.

 

At K.U., I also focused on the marketing principles for all forms of product development. I took merchandising classes, marketing courses, and a few independent study assignments on human interaction with visual language. (K.U. 1991-1995 114 credit hours, including 47 art/design studio courses - B.F.A. Industrial Design – 154 credit hour degree)

 

I worked as a lifeguard, in maintenance, and as a part-time construction worker in the swimming pool industry through college. I would clean and balance pool chemistry for homeowners in Lawrence, KS, and work with the construction crew in the afternoon. When I went home to St. Louis, I enjoyed my job as a lifeguard at public pools in the suburbs. Union Station in St. Louis has a hotel and pool, and I worked there a bit during evening and weekend hours, only to reminisce about my mother and father meeting at the train station.

 

I also worked as a custodian at the University of Kansas, cleaning the Burge Commons and picking up the training table where the football and basketball teams ate dinner. It was great for the cooks who let me eat dinner, everything but the desserts. The braided pizza crust at Pyramid Pizza in Lawrence, Kansas, is traditionally covered in honey. I worked as a pizza artist and dishwasher at local restaurants during peak party times.

 

I also sold in-home water purifiers in Kansas, establishing my residency and getting in-state tuition for college. During my first year of college, I had a part-time job helping to publish deadlines as a paste-up artist for a yellow-pages advertiser called the AD-Sheet in Columbia, Missouri. After college graduation and transitioning to full-time work, it was appealing to be prepared for the job, yet exciting how quickly the business community's demands are absorbed.

 

From the "Talking Heads" to my understanding of British punk and New Wave music in the 1980s, the pre-alternative sound has always influenced my attitude toward art. My first CD purchased was from Information Society, followed by The Clash. My first concert was The B52s. Walking around the college toward the concert hall, I witnessed a strong creative side in music that I still cherish today. Sonic Youth, Bob Mould with "Black Sheets of Rain," and The Screaming Trees were a few bands I saw live at The Blue Note in Columbia, Missouri. I even caught The Pixies playing live twice. Watching 120 Minutes on MTV play, The Replacements videos, and seeing The Cure dance in composed imagery was awe-inspiring as an art school student.

 

When I went to Lawrence, Kansas, a local band, Paw, was incredible. Nirvana and Pearl Jam were brought to campus by Kansas U. student affairs money and played outside the football field. I found Pale Divine and The Urge to be entertaining bands from St. Louis as they traveled the Midwest's college rock venues. The Bottleneck in Lawrence was a bar with a membership and weird drinking-age restrictions. Even today, I tune in to music before 1995 and can't figure out why. The last concert I saw was Urge Overkill in college, just after Midnight Oil.

 

After graduating from college with Bill Clinton as president, I noticed my ego's job opportunities weren't tremendous, but they weren't dismal either. So, I went to work with the attitude that I would continue my artwork and keep a vocation-oriented job. As a Nation, we balanced our budget. Time for entertainment became a VCR movie rental from Blockbuster, and life after college became a strict business-hour routine. I continued my hobby of Abstract painting.

 

After spending six years in college, I learned about design from various professions. I began color-plotting negatives for a St. Louis, Missouri, printing division. We worked with cereal and product boxes. It was my first experience working with an Apple computer and scanning equipment. We would print out four-color negatives from giant film machines. Each negative had the separation plot print of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. Four opposites, each printed and emulsified for client-spec hard-copy prints. (1995) I worked a few night shifts scanning picts with an Apple Computer.

 

After the union print shop downsized, I moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to work for a Southwestern furniture manufacturer called StoneCreek Furniture. My brother went to school at the University of Arizona, and I went camping in the North. I went to Phoenix to look into a job I found in the local newspaper I was reading while camping. I got an apartment down the street from the shop with a bedroll, clock radio, and a backpacking coffee pot. I learned various native methods of building furniture unique to the Southwest, as well as many tips and tricks for sanding and finishing furniture in the studio. My main task was to sand 40 chairs in an 8-hour shift. I worked in the spray booth, delivered furniture to homes as part of a crew, and learned patience and determination. It was a real "dirty job." When I burnt a hole in my coffee pot and realized I needed a T.V. for any reference, it was time to move. While in the Western U.S.A., in Phoenix and San Diego, I interviewed with companies for design firm or consulting agency positions but was never accepted. (1996)

 

As time passed, I worked odd jobs in maintenance and repair, including painting house interiors in St. Louis, Missouri. (1997) I would take short trips to Chicago and the eastern Ohio valley cities of Cincinnati, Columbus, and North Carolina to find more credible work with higher pay. Still, the transition to finding the right position at a specialized ad agency took a lot of work, including navigating paperwork, mailing letters, and making phone calls. Getting an office handshake, showing the work portfolio, and even considering the second interview was expensive.

 

I went to work for a friend who was starting a business constructing wire and cable harnesses for soda machines and computers. I worked with him until he sold his company to a massive conglomerate. Working in production with automated equipment to prepare pinned wires was my job. We would insert a wire into a small machine that would strip it. Our little crew would then sit with bundles of cables around our necks, pinning and crimping 50 wires at a time, assembling harnesses for soda machines. (1998)

 

I was also a Machine Operator in a cardboard factory during a summer job in 1999. I assisted in designing the shipping boxes and worked with the crews running the production lines. I learned to operate a die-cutting press that takes the diagram for the punched-out box from an AutoCAD drawing template, a glue machine to seal the boxes, and a color printing press to place text and logos on tables. On the factory floor, crews would come in to catch and feed, and carting machines would bring stacks of cardboard seven feet high to get through the presses. I would stand and take down the seven-foot-high stack into the feeder and move around to complete bundling tasks with the crew.

 

The computer revolution turned a notch, and I decided to return to school. In a short time, I learned about Quark and Illustrator graphic programs at the University of St. Louis, Missouri. However, I soon decided to return to school full-time and enrolled in courses in anatomy and physiology, AutoCAD, and 3D computer animation. In addition, I studied photorealistic animation programs such as 3ds Max and AutoCAD drafting at St. Louis Community College Center for Advanced Imaging. I was also accepted to the Parks College of Engineering at St. Louis University, where I took a Pro/Engineer course. (2000) (completed 28 hours including 25 hours of art/design computer studio courses --- Total college studies 189 credit hours, including 93 art/design studio credit hours - 14 semesters 13.5 credit hours a semester for seven years as a professional student!)

 

In 2001, I began my employment at a community newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri, as a composing artist. My job was to compose advertising layouts for local businesses, manage a Website, and paginate the pages at press time. I logged in to a website-building template and uploaded .jpg image ads. We used Quark Express software and spent many hours organizing 3.5-inch data disks that housed client ads alphabetically. We used wax machines and paste-up boards with copy machines to prepare the news page boards for photo and print steps at a print production facility. We worked on Macintosh computers, electronically sending all data in two years. Call Newspapers are in the mailbox, mailed newspaper, and distributed as the third-largest in Missouri. Pre-press design and the use of layout software were the tool-related challenges for skilled labor. Production time was two pages of 11x17 advertising composition per 8-hour shift. With a team of 2 employees, we would compose the newspaper's directives with around eleven employees. (2001-2004) My employer said he worked at an egg carton facility after college before transitioning to his objective at a newspaper.

 

The composing artist role was my career growth plan, including learning about merchandising, sales, and small businesses. This job was my fourth husband and wife running a small business. The general manager and editor were from Ohio, and the two worked together at other papers in St. Louis and started Call Newspapers. In Lawrence, Kansas, the pool company had a sample in-ground pool in the backyard and an extension on the owner's home where the family's wife would organize clients and answer phone calls for the outside crews working around town. The cardboard factory was a baby-boomer business where the husband and wife had their own office next to the manufacturing area, where the cardboard-gluing, pressing, and cutting machines sat. The wiring business was a husband-and-wife team my mother knew growing up, and we had five employees working in a rental space in a manufacturing building.

 

The new orientation toward computer multimedia led me to assist a local videographer. Working on wedding video events and documenting and editing timeline videos with Adobe Video Editing Software added exciting career growth and skill development opportunities. Working with digital cameras and eating excellent meals at elegant ceremonies added orientation to visual presentation. Production time was 20 hours editing a wedding event and 20 hours editing the reception party. The tactics were mainly two-camera edits, with a 3rd still camera sometimes used. This fifth small-business employment venture helped me understand the importance of clients and respect. Again, this husband-and-wife team would build client work and create video output goals and production plans. (2004-2005)

 

At weddings, there are sincere moments of togetherness. Watching wedding videos throughout the seasons is lovely in its own way. Songs and music are timeless parts of the ceremony and crucial moments in a wedding video. High-dollar weddings are unbelievable. One of the most exciting weddings I worked on as a videographer was for a lady from Hawaii who wore a pineapple-string dress and married a man from India at an old 1904 World's Fair Pavilion. Although wedding editing and video composition are time-consuming, I have kept up with the Software by taking video editing courses in 2016.

 

I am a person who takes the approach of an Industrial Designer; new product designs are constantly developing, and problems solved on existing goods give better solutions to the marketplace. Therefore, a project criterion for becoming an industrial designer involves working with package design and consumer durable goods outside-in toward the point of purchase to understand that a "better mousetrap" is built inside-out.

 

National Plastics and Stock Clam manufacturing in St. Louis, Missouri, had given me a great set of building-block references to assist with the graphics pre-press package design. I composed the Stock Clam logo now found on their website and letterheads. I have drafted nearly 100 different drafting templates for their product line on the Stock Clam website. The clamshells have simple square and circular cavities that snap shut easily, allowing a clamshell card to be graphically designed and inserted into the package. (2005-2016)

 

Various freelance jobs have introduced me firsthand to the needs of clients. For example, from 2005 until 2008, I worked on a newsletter in the fall and spring for Alpha Packaging called "Alpha-Bits." Alpha Packaging opened new offices in Salt Lake City and New York and remained in St. Louis, Missouri. The company produced containers and bottles for household, beauty, and vitamin products. My freelance task was composing employee writings, pictures, and image layouts for a small 500-print newsletter to stimulate employee communication. I would order the pages in Adobe InDesign and get and retrieve print setups.

 

Graphic design ventures from companies investing in clamshell cards introduced me to printing divisions' regional sales reps, who kept me working with Adobe software. I composed many graphic design clamshell card specs for companies in Great Britain and New England.

 

My proudest package design was for Airtex Foam, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company produced foam for the sewing industry but took a chance and offered a durable good under its own name, with the Airtex brand logo. The company was manufacturing and selling a Stuffing Rod for teddy bear animals. I designed this package, printed it in India, and landed it on the shelf at JoAnn Fabrics retail stores. It was colorful with rainbow hues and stylistically composed of type, logos, and photographs. (2006-2007)​

 

Computer Drafting Software and online advertising services have introduced me to clients who are investing in new product design. I always liked making hand-built product models and worked with Rhino/ Flamingo 3D computer drafting software. I updated my portfolio and 3D modeling skills during this period.

 

For example, a company in Atlanta, Georgia, liked my cartooning ability with computer software. I showed them some cartoon samples, and they connected me to a computer visual interface for web meetings. We talked by word of mouth over the phone. I created computer renderings for their engineering department and produced 3D, robust model prints of Sippy-Cup characters via the World Wide Web. I used ovals, spheres, and conical shapes' stretching and bending tools to create the caricature of animal forms. Production started in China, yet some shelf space had to open up. The animal character cups are made of pacifier-safe material with a washable insert for easier cleaning. The Zoo Crew Sippy Cups, featuring a pig, rhino, and panda, were a product line they hoped to expand on from their well-recognized puzzle maps.

 

A business in Atlanta, Georgia, La Vida Inc., wanted to move artistic directives toward producing a hat cap stretcher device. The product foundation is on the platform associated with the demand for shaping a 5950 ball cap. The hip-hop industry promotes the style-driven shapes of a perfectly fitted, well-aligned hat. The various colors and patterns that hip-hop artists wear drive demand for a molded plastic device that embodies style and elegance for fashion-conscious consumers. Considering such a device's proponents and how the audience would use, integrate, and grow with the product was fantastic. The owner and founder of La Vida Inc. organized the labeling of every part and standardized the numbering of every component and system.

 

In 1989, I discovered hip-hop and rap as appealing art forms. My friend and I would ride to school with his two 20-inch subwoofer boxes. The stereo kept him busy, the seams caulked and covered in a carpet in the vehicle's back seat. Digital Underground, Tone Loc, Ice T, N.W.A, and Salt and Pepa kept us "bumpin'" at school. I liked the song "Supersonic." It was fun to go to a teen dance club down the street and practice our moves to Bobby Brown and MC Hammer. I was a big Aerosmith fan, and the "Walk This Way" song with Run-DMC and sonnet led me to the Beastie Boys' music. In St. Louis, Nelly's music is fantastic. I listen to hip-hop nearly every day on digital channel networks. However, the best rap album is the 8 Mile compilation.

 

Using Rhino 3D software, I took three sketches of a mechanical device and turned them into computer-generated elements for a hat/cap stretcher. The owner and founder of La Vida came from Atlanta to St. Louis and sat next to my desk for about the first five days of the design process. We worked on the contour and repetition of mirroring rectangles, obtuse rhombus, and piping patterns to craft the product device's form as individual parts. Later, I prepared the internal mechanisms' shapes using engineering guidelines, including the dryer unit, water, and steam components, in 3D computer software. I also created computer models of the gearing mechanisms, building the prototype from the inside out. During the design process, we discussed how kids working at the mall could give demonstrations for Fitted Pro. With modern 3D printing technology, individual assemblies can be output and constructed with a minimal assembly workforce. (2007-2008) The hat-shaping device has evolved to be known as "Cap God" and seemingly takes orders for the professional hat steamer through online directives.

 

A business in Minneapolis, Minnesota, wanted 3d floor plans for a business proposal. I composed interior renderings of floor plans with computer drafting Software, studying interactive space for a retail food chain. I produced space studies for business proposals of architectural 2D designs. We set up a unique logo with a colleague from a previous employer, using their style and plan. (2008)

 

On another architecture-related project, I drafted material templates for Porta-Fab in St. Louis, Missouri. The company produces a range of building materials for the construction industry, including foam, aluminum web, wood, and various compounds. The materials are made to be durable and functional, with an aesthetic look. The renderings can be found on their website. I made nearly 100 visual renderings using computer software and the computer artwork of the materials they produced. They are images of wood, colored plywood, and foam composites, along with metal building blocks, used in interior and exterior construction. (2007-2008)

 

​During the 2008 economic recession, it took a lot of work to get money to change hands. There were many phone calls and conversations about paying and when to pay, and about when I would invoice businesses. Owing people's money and finding out that projects were determinedly "put on hold and canceled" led me to find alternatives and backup plans for the business to the business list. Art is a luxury item in economic terms.

 

It was celebrated in St. Louis in 2008 when Director Jason Reitman came to town to make a movie called "Up in the Air." I saw George Clooney act in a scene. I was in the background of a too-dark scene, but watching the movie was a great antidote. In late summer, a scene filmed at a school down the street had snow on campus. I live in the district where actor John Goodman grew up.

 

As the information age opened new opportunities, academia and instruction were the most promising career environments. However, I have always considered teaching art and design. I wanted to paint on canvas more often and learn about fine art. In 2009, I decided to enroll at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.

 

I chose to pursue a graduate degree at Webster University, known for its top-notch art school and excellent education department. I took courses on educational and adolescent psychology for teachers in the classroom. The human and computer contexts in the design community drove my association with the topic of education. I was excited to sign up for watercolor and sculpture classes. I wrote many lesson plans in graduate school, which shaped my thinking and strengthened my writing and journaling skills. I also learned about oil painting and experimented with my abstract design style on canvas.

 

Over time in school, I enjoyed communicating the instructional process required of teachers. In my fifth semester of working on my Master's degree, I completed my student teaching seminars for the art classroom, drawing on school experiences from Kindergarten through the twelve grades. School teaching work was completed over eight weeks, full-time in a grade school art class, and over eight weeks, full-time, in a high school art class.

 

The public school elementary education experience was eye-opening and challenging, especially learning names, and I had to work top-down with guidance. I wrote my Teacher Work Sample during my first eight weeks in the elementary classroom. I learned how to grade elementary students, correct behavior, model an orientation to student awareness, and monitor and teach basic art lessons.

 

I chose to work my high school portion in an alternative school, assisting students with emotional and behavioral issues. The art implications for those students were amazing. We stretched canvases, stapled and painted them, set up a still life, composed artwork, and held shows and exhibits for parents and support networks.

 

2012, I graduated with my Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Webster University School of Education. I passed the Praxis Art Content Knowledge Test for certification, including art history, art-making, and classroom teaching skills. 2012, I received a passing score on the Praxis Technology Education test. The topic covers knowledge of construction, energy in production, manufacturing, graphic arts, and computer design trades. (Webster University - 54 credit hours in graduate school 2010-2012)

 

Since 2009, I have been a caregiver for disabled seniors to pay for my graduate degree. As a result, I find myself getting groceries, cooking meals for elders, transporting seniors to the doctor, cleaning bed sheets, doing laundry, filling pills, bathing, doing yard work, and many other "odd jobs of caregiving." I even assist in moving immobile disabled persons and dementia and Alzheimer's patients, helping them focus on scheduling.

 

I was a visiting substitute teacher in all classrooms for seven years at two public school districts. Yet I continue to oil-paint abstract canvases for upcoming shows and to provide senior caregiving. I liked working in math classrooms, physical education, English, history, and all the courses where students worked toward the next grade level. I enjoyed working in middle and high school, where I attended and a district close to my home.

 

My favorite elementary moments were singing American folk songs as a music teacher sub and reading TIME KIDS to 5th graders. I also wore a suit and tie and helped instruct Sunday School at my church from 2012 to 2016. We created a lot of art projects set up by retired schoolteachers. I worked at an art-based summer camp for kids at Laumeier Park in 2010. My work as a substitute visiting teacher was in middle and high school academic environments. I know teachers appreciate a day off from the profession. (2012-2019)

 

A high school campus is an ever-evolving place of preparation concerning dialect and understanding the topic list. After high school, students engage in research and methodology aligned with their vocational interests. A middle school is an educational place of transition where basic knowledge and insight are oriented toward long-term learning, from 39 years old, observing classrooms, to 49 years old, working at public schools a few days a week. I would cover teacher directives and continue course routines and processes in my simple job from topic-to-topic classes.

 

I always consider my educational background and rationalize the bigger picture of what school is and what the stated professional "State Standards" and "Grade Level Expectations" work for student awareness from campus to campus. I was a certified teacher in 2012 and recertified in 2016, as the requirement is every 4 years. I did not take vacation those years because I was enrolled in a three-hour college course. The time I spent filling out job applications on all the district's web portals kept me at my desk.

 

My abstract painting has been juried, and I set up my tent and panels to sell one-of-a-kind artwork. Since 2014, being juried, exhibiting, and selling oil paintings at art fairs has opened my canvas designs to thousands of people, and I enjoy the work. I have set up my booth at festivals in St. Louis, such as Laumeier Park on Mother's Day and Webster Groves, Missouri. I have paintings for sale on my art website, and I work in my home studio. My canvases have been presented and sold at predominantly St. Louis, MO art shows.

 

2018, I sent digital computer renderings to the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art. My "NeoFuturism" concept art is a new paradigm and restitution for grandeur. Also, making art with 3D modeling software for decorative interiors is very intriguing, and I am working on using computers to explore new avenues of visual presentation.

 

Working, knowing, and developing with associates makes it not uncommon for an artist to have "another profession." I have met artisans with incredible skills and talent who work at night. I want to orient my educational skills and practices to teach an online course I facilitate on art, design, and user/consumer interaction.​ Also, while working as a caregiver, I am working under directives to own and rent a property that can finance my love for creating, building, and directing art and design.

 

My grandfather talked quite often, referring to his father's lifestyle from the 1880s as the first in our family to be born in the U.S.A. and to live until 1972. Then, he said, "A lot of time, my dad would walk in the door, eat very little, and head straight to bed." But after the 911 terror strikes, my grandpa said it would be a different day and age, and I would have to work more at it.

 

My grandpa grew up and graduated from the eighth grade during the World Wars and the Great Depression. He contributed during societal setbacks and received good jobs in the following ticker-tape parade. He said that finally reaching the 1980s was a wonderful experience, and he wished his wife were around.

 

My elders would tell me I am not the class of person to gamble. Don't quit so early. We still have a lot to do today. The 12-14-16 hours on your feet shouldn't bother you.

 

I have spent a lot of time caring for neighbors and family. I also clean up personal items and fix up rental properties to balance my business, such as painting and woodwork, and then stop to wash dirty socks and garments and even give haircuts. I have gotten strong and commented to my cousin over the years; I have built muscle in my arms, lifting older people around. I was a caregiver for 14 years.

 

For years, I kept my parents out of nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. My mother could not stand or dress herself for 54 months, and previously, my dad needed help for 40 months before his passing. I was their caregiver, totaling 84 months.  I lifted my mom out of bed five times a day, kept her free of bedsores, back to the wheelchair, and back to bed with eight hours a week of support from a second caregiver. She sat there watching the game show network while I remodeled the house to rent it out. I painted the entire house, scraped and removed all the carpet, painted the exterior, and got all the items out of the house; my dad saved everything.

 

My hard work, determination, and ability to consistently work and organize will show in time as I pursue my dreams of working in fine art and designing agendas as my lifelong backup plan, independently in my studio. I learned that college will pay off when you are 45 years old; well, with societal and health setbacks and losing your parents, it did for me in my early fifties, yet I never gave up on my wants, needs, and dreams.

 

After updating my portfolio and lesson plans, I accept new graphic or industrial design projects. To patent a trademark, I worked on product and package designs for friends and acquaintances. I am working on new computer 3D design concepts and developing a concept portfolio by shaping product forms in the round. I plan to save money on a 3D scanner.

 

As I look for great products and inventions, I have found the Dawn dishwashing pump container to be an innovative, new, and fun package design. It has replaced my salsa bowl, which I fill with dish soap and dip my dishwashing brush into. But, of course, my favorite blender is the NutriBullet.

 

In 2025, the subtractive sculpture of product design modeling will bring me new clientele to build prototypes for the product shelf. I plan to teach specific semesters on the design topic, with accompanying writing, as organized by an online university. I am here to conclude and rationalize product and packaging in the global merchandising arena. I am here to take your call. I will paint abstract art in my home studio two days a week, write about design, hopefully teach online, and pick up online 2-D and 3-D freelance jobs two days a week.​

 

My affiliations have included the Eagle Scout Association of the Boy Scouts of America, Sierra Club, Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, Kansas Water Polo Club, Students in Missouri for the National Education Association, and Beep-Ball Baseball for blind people.