After retiring, I found that I still had more things to do than I could get done. I was still managing my life as if I was working. To get out of that mode, I had to shut down for a while. And then I started painting and sketching in 2003 using pencil, charcoal, and watercolors. I did some studies from a wonderful book Watercolorists at Work, by Susan E. Mey and Norman Kent. Then I did a couple of originals that I liked.