While at Yakima High School, Vada took every art class available. She went to work at Boeing after graduation, as a draftsman-illustrator. She had dreams of attending art school, but was side tracked after meeting her husband to be. They eventually bought the Park Motel and moved to Aberdeen with their young family. She carved out time to attend a watercolor class at Grays Harbor College, given by Howard Hardy. Classes with Don James and Roy Lowry have further honed her skills. Locally she has shown and sold her work at The Gallery of Ocean Shores and Alder Grove Gallery.  Although macular degeneration has made it harder to work in recent years, creative activities satisfy her soul.  She is currently working on a children’s book featuring a pair of lost kittens on a farmland adventure.