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MA: So how did you balance all the work that you were doing as a teacher, as an administrator, with your own career as an artist and your own art?

CQ: Well, see, I was raising three kids, and my husband was an artist. And he was the major artist, and I was a minor artist. Even though he was not Japanese American, he was Irish-Dutch-Spanish, Eberts is a Dutch name. And I had married him, and I really believed in his art. I really believed in his art and I really believed that he had a fantastic amount of talent. And he worked as a longshoreman, then he worked at USC as an art teacher. But he, his major work was his own art. And my art was sort of confined to doing the brochures and announcements for his shows. And I was a Sunday painter, I would paint on the weekends, my own watercolors, my own oils, my own... you know, I did all kinds of, I used Prismacolors, I used acrylics, I used pastels. Since I was an art teacher, I taught all the medias. But I was just a Sunday painter, and I never took myself seriously because my husband didn't take me seriously. And so I was sort of like floss or fru-fru or whatever they call it, and he was the serious guy. And that was okay with me, because I was very busy just raising the kids and teaching, and inspiring my students to be really great artists. And it was, it didn't happen that I went into art until I retired.

And while I was in college I was -- I think I told you -- I was writing poetry, I was writing my songs, and I was doing dance, I was really into modern dance. I did a lot of innovative things, like when I pledged Tri Delts. At Long Beach State, I got all the, we were all the pledges, and I had them do, I got kimonos from my sister-in-law, and I had them all dress in kimonos and we did sort of a mock take-off of "Harry Kari and the Six Sake Sippers," which was a musical group. It sounds really strange, but they were funny and they were popular. And so we did all kinds of, sort of, Oriental and American songs like "Come On to My House, My House" in kimonos, and things like that, and I had a lot of fun.

And I think you asked me before if I ever felt any discrimination. In my entire life, I've never felt any discrimination except once from a teacher, a colleague, that I was Japanese American. And if there was any feelings, it was never shown to me. And I'm very sensitive to how people feel, and I think it's because I made it a non-issue. I always said, "I'm Japanese American, and I have a lot to offer by bringing my culture to the school, or by being a part of the community."

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.