"Your last day with the company will be December 31." My manager’s words resounded
in my head. The very least I expected was a congratulatory comment of a job well done
from this year‐end appraisal and perhaps a bonus in recognition of exceeding my business
goals but never the short brief announcement that I had been terminated. (The fastest
way a company reduces expenses is eliminate employees, a hard lesson learned that
morning.) Thus began my journey into a lifelong dream.
Five years ago my lifetime career ended abruptly. After several months of reality set‐
tling in that my business career was over short of retirement, I began to sort out options
for the future. Confusion and panic filled the first few months while friends made numer‐
ous suggestions for a new line of work, none of which I found very appealing. It was late in
my work life to start a new career and jobs in my profession weren't easy to find and re‐
quired relocation. Since I had a small farm and numerous animals in my care, relocation
would be difficult. A flurry of resumes sent out over several months failed to bring one
response. Thinking back over years of presenting creative thinking seminars in my past
business life, it seemed now was the time to look into my own dream world and decide
what I would choose to do if there were no roadblocks in my way. If I could do anything I
wanted to do, what would that be? What was my passion? What had I been too busy to
pursue? My love for animals had always been my passion ‐‐ cats from my childhood and
then dogs later in my life. Over the years animal faces played in my mind especially cat
faces and those expressive feline eyes. I'd always wondered if I could capture the spirit of
those eyes with a brush and paint.
Lack of time and art instruction made this dream seem impossible until I attended a
craft show that spring and met someone already living his dream. There was a pottery
booth at the show with hand‐formed pottery and vases. One vase had an impressionistic
cat drawing on the front in vivid colors. I spent my time at the craft show talking with the
potter while my friends toured the rest of the show. I learned he had made the vase and
his wife drew the cat. Before I left the show, I made an appointment to meet him at his
studio to learn to make pottery vases and hoped to use that vase as my first adventure
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126