I was born in Surabaja, Indonesia. As a child I lost my hearing when a Bomb blew up near me and damaged my ear drums. My father was in Singapore when the Japanese invaded Indonesia and escaped by ship. He entered the US as a seaman, and found some old friends in San Francisco to help him get settled in the U.S. He joined the Army and was given U.S. citizenship for service during WW II.

I came to New York City when I was 11 years old. I was then introduced to my older stepbrother John, and we shared a room until he went to stay with our grandmother in Colorado so he could attend school. My stepmother, Carolyn enrolled me at The Public School for the Deaf at 23rd Street in New York City. I was awkward as my teacher taught me how to read and write simple words on the blackboard. With the help of my hearing aid, I was learning to read lips and speak English fluently.

We moved out to Stony Creek, Connecticut, where I went to high school for two years before joining the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford. After graduating, I studied art correspondence at Famous Artists School for 3 years while working as an apprentice at a small printing company in New Haven. After I finished art school, I went to New York City looking for a job and found one doing paste up mechanicals on various magazines for Reese Publishing.

In May 1979, Macmillan/McGraw-Hill hired me as staff artist despite my hearing problem. I was hired to do paste-up and mechanicals, designing, and doing some illustrations for school textbooks from Kindergarten to Grade 6.

In the mid-1990’s, all employees started to work on computers. Instead of doing illustrations in pen and ink and airbrush by hand, I was illustrating on the computer. Two years later, I was transferred to another department that was not as creative. I thought about quitting but decided to stay at McGraw-Hill. I was very patient for a long time and am now very happy as I was finally moved back to Design, doing what I love to do - illustration and design. As times change, I have had to change my technique as well. I now mostly illustrate in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, but still love to use pen and ink. I keep up with current technology by going to web classes, reading lots of books, and plenty of research.

On May 28th, 2010, I retired from the company after 31 years. I am moved to Chicago. I have a new apartment, a new city, and my new life of retirement. It will be exciting for me to experience many new and exciting adventures.

So, I will soon be freelancing for one company with offices in Columbus, Chicago, and New York City. Also, I will be able to spend more time drawing and painting from my own imagination for an art show in the future.