I grew up in the Midwest, but for graduate school I ventured farther south, reconnecting with my parents' roots. At the University of Alabama, where I earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Department of Theatre, I had the great fortune to design four mainstage plays: King Lear, Private Lives, The Trip to Bountiful and Godspell.  I also mastered crafts like period patterning, millinery, fabric dying and manipulation, and wig ventilation.