how art and nature became my first way of coping with a 3D existence

I barely made it through high school I was so tired all the time. I would use up every single one of my allotted absentees. Because I got such good grades, my parents allowed me to choose if I wanted to stay home that day. My last year I had met most of the requirements for graduation and did not need to take a full day of classes so I worked out a deal with the superintendent to make it possible for me to take two hours for lunch and my art teacher allowed me to come in and paint while she taught another class so that gave me two hours of art. Art was also my escape and I found that I could draw and paint quite well without much practice at all. I took voice lessons for a few months and shortly after that got a solo in our local Messiah production. We lived near the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park and our family would often go to these places. These were also sanctuaries from my painful childhood.