Like some others here, I have worked with traditional art media and have had some schooling. I've also worked in the graphics field (before it was computerized, and the 'fonts' came on strips that were loaded into the machine that spit out strips of type -- yes, I am a dinosaur lol). I started getting into hand-drawn animation and that is when my carpal tunnel flared up, and after surgery, even though it's better than it was, I still cannot hold a pencil, pen, conte or pastels, or brush the way I used to, or for as long. Several years before the surgeries, I started getting into computer graphics and found I loved it, so it just seemed a natural transition for me. It was when I got online that I found fractals -- Don Archer's, I believe, and was really astounded and knew I had to try my hand at it. So, the stupid argument about whether fractalists (and digital artists), are REAL artists notwithstanding, no, I don't consider myself strictly a fractal artist (as I am also a digital and graphic artist); but that is what I do that I enjoy the most and it gives me the most satisfaction. I can't imagine ever wanting to give them up. :)