Hi there!

I'm Shirley Dawson from central Arkansas. Found this site after purchasing some of Richards DVD lessons. I'm loving them btw. I'm a retired civil servant (worked at FDA for 33 years) then opened a photography studio which I had to retire from after 5 years due to health issues. I loved to draw and paint (acrylics) when I was a teen. In my 20's I became enamored with photography and loved my Canon camera. During my career with FDA, mostly in the IT field, I developed a passion for software and graphics programs also. After retirement and opening my photography studio I started learning to photo paint with Corel Painter. Then I joined our local art league and got re-interested in traditional mediums. I'm currently very determined to learn all I can about painting with acrylics, then watercolors and then oils. I've played briefly with pastels at a workshop which was fun too. I still love my photography but with several degenerated discs in my back, I really can't do photo shoots anymore - just walking is an issue most of the time. I play frequently with my digital painting in Corel and more recently ArtRage Studio for a more watercolor look. I've found some great online spots to study painting techniques that I'm using for both traditional and digital mediums. Life is still fun even if most people would consider me handicapped because of my back issues.

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