"I am out in the beautiful country living the dream of being an artist. Sure, I meet deadlines and keep appointments but for the most part, time is irrelevant now. I used to be so stressed, at one point having three jobs at once with very early hours, jumping through all the hoops... Now it's my time to have no need for time!"

It's a state of grace Linda is most grateful to have achieved.

"I am so fortunate to have my dream workshop here. It is my basement, a 24'x40' (7x12 meters) space. One room used to be my indoor/outdoor chicken coop. I had four beloved chickens, a duck and a bunny. They all slept in the basement, then in the morning, I'd just open the door to the totally enclosed outdoor coop. They have all since passed on, so now it is my wood room. I have all my wood on that side now, freeing up a lot of room on my side. I have both full-sized and miniature power tools and lots of hand tools. I am a total tool junkie. I get positively intoxicated shopping for tools!"

"It was the tool I used that very first time I carved, an X-Acto knife with disposable #11 blade. On my table always at the ready are my X-Acto knife with brand new blade and one with a used blade for non-precision work, a little metal ruler and scale rules. I also have a dedicated Dremel with a flexi-shaft, a dedicated Dremel set up in a drill press attachment, a mini electric chop saw and paper files of all different animals - two file cabinets full!"