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After twelve years of working as a professional artist, Tiffany Dill, 58, was craving a change. With two degrees (art and business) and three children under her belt, the encaustic artist had been exhibiting her paintings in galleries in Charleston and Asheville for years but wanted a more dependable income that didn’t involve sitting at a desk. After going for an ultrasound herself, she recognized the sonographer as an artist she knew from the community. “I thought: She does ultrasound for income and it allows her to do her artwork.”

Juggling A-B Tech’s full-time program, complete with its clinical practicum, she admits has been a challenge. Her husband has taken on supporting the family while she goes to school, and the kids don’t see as much of their mom. “My youngest doesn’t like my going to school. He’s 8. And I’ve had to put the housework on hold because I have 10-12 hours of homework on weekends sometimes.”

But, she said, the payoff is worth it. After graduating this spring she’ll move from a part-time student position at Pardee Hospital to four ten-hour days. Scholarships covered the majority of her studies, so she has virtually no student debt. And, then there are the perks of her new career.

“The whole field is exciting,” she said. “There’s so much to the heart and also to the inner world of the hospital. I had only been exposed to kids and artists before. Now I get to meet all kinds of interesting people.”

Dill also loves the visual aspect of her new job. “It is satisfying when you can get a good image of the heart and its walls. Everyone’s body is shaped differently and sometimes there’s air blocking the heart, or you can’t get a good image for another reason. When you can get a good image of the heart it is so exciting.”

She’s also looking forward to spending more time with her family and to returning to making encaustic paintings, something she hasn’t done in the past two years.

“I get ideas for things and I can’t wait to have time to do art again,” she says. “I’m looking forward to making art for fun, not for other people.”