I was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1956. I grew up in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York. I attended public schools and when I was seven years old, my mother took me to a life drawing class where I depicted a sketch of a nude woman. From that moment onward, I became a keen observer of the physical world and was drawn to art as well as the built environment.

In 1974, I decided to enroll in an architecture program at a college in upstate New York. In my fourth year at college my life became a living hell, beginning with innocently eating a brownie cake that was baked with angel dust (PCP) at an intimate party. My existence became overwhelmed with a series of death-defying nervous breakdowns while struggling to complete college, entering a male dominated workforce, searching for my soul mate, true friendship, and a sense of belonging, and realizing my trapped creative potential.