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Thank
you for visiting Orchids -n- Inks.com. My name
is Rob Shepherd and I'm the founder and illustrator
for the site. I've been growing and drawing orchids
since 1984 and have been involved in horticulture for
most of my life. Originally from Tyler, Texas, I currently
reside in Tampa, Florida.
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At
the age of 12, growing orchids became an unending
passion and addiction in my life. Like so many
other growers and begin growing orchids on the
windowsill and quickly built a greenhouse to support
my ever growing collection. My middle school and
high school years were spent involved with the
Central East Texas Orchids Society, with duties
that ranged from show chairmen to President.
Originally
my plans were to major in Ornamental Horiculture,
but I found my focus split between orchids, art,
and music.
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I spent 6.5 years working on a degree and eventually
recieved a music degree from SouthWest Texas University
focusing on Multimedia.
While in school my art focus was on illustration and
computer graphics.
My
time in college was spent trying to find my place in
life and looking for a way utilize all my different
skills. After graduating I began working in the computer
gaming industry and now I spend my work time producing
children's games where I'm able to put most of my skills
to good use.
Growing
orchids and illustrating them is now a side hobby. While
work consumes most of my time, I still find the time
to some drawing. Now that I'm living in Florida, I'm
looking forward to the opportunity to explore, photograph
and illustrate even more of these amazing plants.
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In
1991, at the suggestion of friends and family, I started
Orchids -n- Inks to fund my growing orchid habit.
I started with two cards and sold to local orchid socities
and at other orchid related functions.
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Sometime
in the early 90's, I was asked to create a card
for some family members associated with the America
Scottish Society. The thistle card was created
and it became a part of the current set of cards.
In
1999 I decided to move Orchids -n- Inks online
and Orchids -n- Inks.com was born. This
site is still a side hobby, so updates and additions
will happen slowly. My primary focus will updating
and adding features to ..gone WILD.
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I realized some time ago that there was not a good resource
for information about native orchids and other native plants.
...gone WILD is a step towards using the internet
as place to compile information and imagery for public reference.
Currently
this is a side project for me and all the information presented
has to posted by hand which is rather time consuming. It is
my hope, that eventually all of this can be database driven.
But until that point, I will continue to add to the site as
I time.
Please
drop me an e-mail if you have photographs or information you
would to have added to site. Also if you catch any mistakes,
please bring them to my attention.
I
hope you enjoy the site...
Sincerely,
Rob
Shepherd
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