I am best known as an expert on the world of professional speaking. I have written several books on the subject, and others. This led me to the famous baseball pitcher Jim Abbott. Now I book Jim Abbott's calendar as a motivational speaker, and I paint stuff!As to my painting, I knew for years that I HAD NO ARTISTIC ABILITY. I knew it for a fact. Then I got married in 1998. My husband is a serious kind of guy, a retired cop, now a polygraph lie detector expert. Talk about "un-likely," he loves those tacky painted yard signs. Go figure. Anyway, I said, "No, way! Not at my house!" In 1998 he talked me into allowing one tiny sign in our yard. He said he would do all of the work. So, we went together and picked out a Christmas pattern that I didn't find too objectionable. Just one! I was not going to have more than that.As he was sitting in the workshop painting, I went to check it out. "How do you do that?"“I just put paint between the lines. Want to try?”I did. It opened the floodgates! Now we have one of those tacky homes with a zillion painted yards signs for every holiday (see videos of our house at Christmas). The more I painted, the more I loved it. Next I tried stencils, and other types of patterns. Finally I tried a few simple things freehand. This lead to my first art book, Cobblestone Cottages from Junk Jars, then an ebook, Paint A Cobbletone Courtyard On Your Cement Floor. Now I have all kinds of paint patterns for sale on-line and a book on how to paint on fabric. Then one day my church asked me to help at a Festival painting faces. "Oh, I can't do that!" They insisted, and here I am.Face painting gives me the most joy of any art project I have ever done. In addition to going to corporate and private events, I have a private face painting art studio. In June of 2008 I founded the West Coast Face Painters, which is a support group for other professional face painters.I now teach face painting classes and have three books on face painting. One, Face Painting Tips and Designs shows you how to start into the world of professional face painting. The other, 500 Tips and Tidbits to Boost Your Income, Inexpensive Rainmaking Ideas in Dry Times for Family Entertainers: Face Painters, Clowns, Magicians and More.I am also the host of the Face and Body Painting Contests.Face painting is a wonderful hobby and profession. When you hold that mirror up in front of a child and they smile from ear to ear, life is just a very great place to be.