Shirley Ann Galbrecht was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia. She moved to North Carolina to study at Barton College, where she received a bachelor of fine arts degree. Her first job took her to the coastal town of Elizabeth City, where she worked for the North Carolina Arts Council as a resident artist. While there, the surrounding beauty of the rural farms and ocean scenery took root in her heart, and her lifelong love affair with nature flourished. Later, during her seventeen years as a graphic designer in central North Carolina, she kept her connection to the environment alive. Perhaps t...