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my sculpture, he soldered, drilled holes, sprayed with clear finish, and performed other tasks I was too sensitive to do. It is an absolute fact that I could never have lived out my creativity without him.It%u2019s also true that John pushed me to have my drawings and prints in several solo exhibitions. At one, in Seymour%u2019s Southern Indiana Center for the Arts, three women were so excited by a mermaid print I%u2019d made, they asked me to print one for each of them, which I did. At another exhibit, at Bloomington%u2019s John Waldron Arts Center, the political cartoonist for our local newspaper purchased a Circus Circus print of acrobatic dogs I%u2019d created. But, as with other group and solo exhibits I entered, sales were few. While disappointing, this was typical for most artists.At that same show at the Waldron, I noticed a couple standing close to my framed prints and examining each one very carefully. The wife kept poking her husband in the ribs with one hand as she pointed to various details with the other. When I walked over and introduced myself, the husband said he worked at Sunshine Greetings, a local company that produced unique greeting cards I%u2019d often admired. He said he loved my work and, if the company%u2019s situation was different, would like to offer me a job. However, because sales were slowing down in the entire greeting-card industry, he was currently laying off employees from their art staff, not adding them. While that was the extent of our conversation, it pleased me to know that my work was appreciated. Later, I recalled how Hallmark Cards had recruited at Western Michigan every year. But I never interviewed with them, because I%u2019d seen a brief film of their facilities in Kansas City, which showed countless artists working in a huge room filled with tiny cubicles. While there were certainly people working there who were creative, for me, being a loner at heart, sitting in a cubicle for hours on end would have strangled me. Not long after that Waldron exhibit, Sunshine Greetings was acquired by Hallmark Cards, and the Bloomington operation was eventually closed down. By the time I started working with computer art, John%u2019s photography was being featured regularly in magazine and newspaper articles, and in gallery exhibits. In fact, we had a number of His-and-Hers exhibits, which featured work by each of us. John also frequently gave slide presentations at libraries and other venues, where I sold books before and after. Then in 2011, Indiana%u2019s Governor Mitch Daniels named each of us a Distinguished Hoosier for our healthyhouse advocacy, and for our work in documenting Indiana%u2019s cultural past in our photography books. During this time, because I%u2019ve always enjoyed working in a variety of media, I also ventured into beading and jewelry making, creating dozens of one-of-akind bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and hair clips. I%u2019ve also designed and made decorative belts, sashes, and purses%u2014some intricately beaded, others embroidered, some both.My embroidery work extended to clothing, including a raincoat, sweaters, and blouses. I%u2019ve also created full-length bathrobes and aprons, jackets, lab coats, and more%u2014some from my own designs, some using patterns. Plus, I%u2019ve machineSea Monster. Copper sheet and brass wire. 2006Chinese Dragon. Cabinet detail.Embossed copper foil. 2003