I have often been asked how I started my business, and I generally answer that I got tired of working for other people, I didn't like my job, etc. Those things are true. However there's another part to the story that I would like to share with you now.

One of the most special people in my life to this point was my grandfather. Sometimes two people just bond, and that's the way it was with us. To meet him, you might have thought him just a North Carolina farmer, but to know him was to see how sensitive, caring, and special he really was. I grew up living in "the little house" behind his home for the first 6 years of my life and then moved about a mile away until I left for college. He would pick me up for church every Sunday and let me play his 8 track tapes. When I needed him to get down on the floor and give me a pony ride, he was there. He gave me Juicy Fruit Gum on command and was the only person who would let me drink coffee with milk (or milk with coffee) and act like a grown up before I became one. When I started teaching school, I remember him driving 60 miles in order to help me take my class to the circus and afterward deliver kids all over Durham in the middle of the night. He died of cancer 29 years ago and although it really hurt me, nothing was left unsaid between us, so I dealt with it. After he died, my mother told me that he had worked his whole life with the dream of saving enough money to be able to leave each of his 7 grandchildren $1000. She presented me with mine. I knew that I wanted to do something very special and important with that money and not just squander it on something without meaning, so I started my framing business. It was very small at first, but has grown considerably, and now I feel that my grandpa would be happy with what I've done. So, you see, when I say your business is important to me, I really do mean it. To me, it's more than my business. It's my grandfather's legacy.

Baltimore and vicinity:

• Take Rt. 695 toward Rt. 97 South
• Follow Rt. 97 South to Rt. 3 South
    note: Rt. 3 becomes Rt. 301 South
• Follow Rt. 301 to the ramp for Rt. 4 South to Solomons
• Rt. 4 eventually joins with Rt. 2, and becomes Rt. 2/4 South
• Follow Rt. 2 into Solomons (turns at the base of Gov. Thomas Johnson Bridge)
    note: Rt. 4 continues across the bridge, Rt. 2 turns under the bridge
• carmen's gallery is on the left, about 3/4 mile

Richmond and south:

• Take I-95 North to Rt. 301 North
• Follow across Governor Nice Memorial Bridge into Maryland
• Continue on Rt. 301 North to a right onto Rt. 234
• From Rt. 234 take a right onto Rt. 5
• Follow through Leonardtown and take a left onto Rt. 4
• Cross over Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge and take the first right off of the bridge
• Take an immediate right onto Rt. 2 South. This heads into Solomons
• carmen's gallery is on the left, about 3/4 mile

From Washington Beltway, Suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia:

• Take Exit 11A (Rt. 4 South) to Solomons
• Rt. 4 eventually joins with Rt. 2, and becomes Rt. 2/4 South
• Follow Rt. 2 into Solomons (turns at the base of Gov. Thomas Johnson Bridge)
    note: Rt. 4 continues across the bridge, Rt. 2 turns under the bridge
• carmen's gallery is on the left, about 3/4 mile