Hello Steemians, let me introduce myself to you~

So excited to join this community of amazing and interesting people who all have something special to contribute to each other's lives. I've been reading your posts, enjoying them and learning from you so I decided to jump in, become one of the group and contribute some of who I am and what interests me:
art (all kinds of art from ancient artifacts to street art to the most cutting edge contemporary artwork), music,
food (by all rights I should weigh 300 lbs because I love food so much, especially chocolate, bacon and licorice).
I started cooking when I was twelve years old. I learned from a friend's mom and the rest I taught myself by going through the "Joy of Cooking". By the time I was 21, I was a self taught gourmet cook. So, you can imagine I'm all about really great food which is an art form unto itself. Yet, to me some basic things like a BLT sandwich are heaven on a plate.

My other interests are fashion, yoga (which is why I'm still slender) cryptocurrency/alt currency (I see so many creative applications for them and the amazing blockchain technology) and technology.

I'm a contemporary visual artist who creates artwork using a broad spectrum of mediums.
Most of my artwork comes from a deep place within me and expresses both personal and social issues.
Examples of my artwork can be found on my website and on my ArtSlant profile:
https://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/358985-marianne-barnard-m
https://www.mariannebarnardartist.com/

I grew up in Malibu, riding the waves and horseback riding which nurtured my close connection to and love of the ocean and nature.

When I was a teenager, I had the immense pleasure of attending Idyllwild Arts Academy where I was taught by Françoise Gilot, she was the muse and mistress of Picasso and is quite a well known artist in her own right. She paints almost every day and is still going strong at 95 years old. Here she is in her New York apartment/studio:

Françoise is a huge influence in my life in many ways. If you follow me you will discover how much plus get tidbits of her immense wisdom.

I earned my BA in Fine and Studio Art from Pepperdine University.
Prior to that I went to UCLA for acting. My parents were not receptive to me being an actress.
I've earned some of the credits towards a degree in Interior Design at UCLA but decided not to continue. I had spent many years doing interior decorating for clients from Malibu to Beverly Hills. You need a degree in psychology for this field. Though some of the nicest, most down to earth people are very famous people like my client Kris Kristofferson for instance.
And some of my famous clients were a royal pain in the rear end, not naming names.

I look forward to sharing with you more of my life and who I am in the future.
Sending positive vibes from beautiful Santa Barbara, California