My parents always encouraged my artwork, and both parents were artistic. My mom often did pencil sketches of cute characters for us kids, and my dad did oil and watercolor paintings (he continues to produce oil paintings now in his elder years!).
After high school, I attended the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. I majored in filmmaking and minored in ceramics. One summer, I had an opportunity to enroll in a paid apprentice program run by a local union to learn a trade. I chose welding because I wanted to be able to create metal sculptures. At the end of the program, I was offered a job at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics and membership into the local union. I decided to accept the job and did not return to school. I spent 10 years in the welding trade, ending up in California working the shipyards as a high-pressure pipe welder. 
But then, I became dissatisfied with the trade and started considering other dreams and ambitions. I decided to “retire” from welding and return to school full time as an “older” student (which I was able to do thanks to my new wife, who put me through school). I ultimately graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BS in chemical engineering. For the next 29 years, I held positions in the chemical and semiconductor manufacturing industries as a research scientist, engineer, product manager, and operations manager. I have also spent the past 20 years as a soccer coach. I am currently a head coach at the East Bay Eclipse Soccer Club, a competitive soccer club in Moraga.
Even though my career path changed multiple times, I never completely stopped creating art. Some years were more productive than others. Then I was laid off in 2019, and it was an opportunity to get back into creating art.