Don't dress for fashion, dress for yourself

I was engaged in all the required courses of math and geometry, but the area that I blossomed in was the art program.

There was a certain amount of discipline, I think; my parents wanted to be sure that I was not just sitting around doing nothing.

When knowledge is scant or conflicting, folklore takes over.

I've always been a keen cyclist, I'm very close to the world of cycling. Not just cycling really - also walking, adventures, being a curious person, traveling to new countries.

My parents' names were Florian and Mabel Smith. My mother's maiden name was Dersam. They were of German heritage and were part of a family community with my grandparents and uncles and relatives. I was an only child.

I learned from books that I picked up. That was something that just came out of nowhere but continued to be an attraction. So there was a continuum of my interest in the arts and involvement in creating that was strong enough that it later blossomed into much more.