Kathy Winkler began her career as an artist when she was very young - drawing animals at home and at school. As an adult, while raising two daughters, she won art show competitions. As her children grew to be teenagers, she began to work as an engineering graphics artist supporting U.S. Navy contracts and doing patent drawings. She became manager of engineering projects concerned with naval combat warfare systems. Concurrently, she obtained her M.A. in International Studies, completing her work