The Artist
When I was a teenager, I planned to become the "Great American Painter". I attended Albright Art School from the seventh grade (1946) until I graduated in 1951 from Lafayette High School, Buffalo, New York. I was an Art Major in high school and received a one year scholarship to Art Institute of Buffalo in September 1951.
After Graduating from Lafayette High School in 1951 I got a job as a drafter for Westinghouse in Buffalo, New York. That was as close as I could get to drawing and still earn money. In 1955 I married John Nast and we moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. We have three children: John, Janet and Karl (who's in heaven now). From 1955 to 1968 I was a Drafter in Las Vegas City Hall in the Public Works Department. I went to Mott Community College and attended Survey classes. Meanwhile, I applied for, and became a Survey Party Chief. This education and experience gave me a broader understanding of civil designing.
In 1977 my husband and I moved back to Las Vegas. Again I worked for the Las Vegas City Hall and later for Clark County Public Works Department as a Senior Technician designing streets. Soon I was promoted to Civil Engineer I and became a Plan's Checker. I reviewed "off-site" plans for commercial developers and engineers until December, 1980, when I left my position to take care of my in-laws.
While taking care of my in-laws I attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and received my undergraduate degree in Business and Economics; my major was Quantitative Management Systems. After I received that degree in 1983, I applied to the graduate college and received my Master's in Business Administration (MBA) in 1988. Because I was over 55, although I had an MBA, I was unable to get a full-time job! In the Spring of 1992, became an Adjunct teacher in the Community College of Southern Nevada. Until the Fall of 1999 taught one or two Civil Drafting and/or surveying classes each semester.
While taking the business classes, and after receiving my MBA, attended many art classes for the "fun of it" and discovered I had not lost my touch. Fortunately met people who encouraged me to submit my work to juried competitions. Since October 1996, at age 63, I have shown my work in numberous group and solo art exhibits.
After almost 50 years of working, taking care of children and inlaws, I am finally able to get back to having "fun" and realizing my childhood ambition, being a professional painter!
The journey is just beginning...
