Carolyn Payne was an Assistant Dean in the Graduate College at Iowa State University before retiring to Ellison Bay, WI, in 2012. She studied stained glass art under Gary Chaudoir in Door County. Her work can be seen at the Stillwoods Art Gallery. She has also written on the Manhattan Project in World War II, particularly its impact on academic research in the sciences.

Don Payne directed the campus-wide communication program at Iowa State University where he introduced visual and digital arts to the standard speech and writing curriculum. Since retiring to Door County, he has studied photography under Dan Anderson and Suzanne Rose, pastel painting under Susan Ploughe, oil painting under Tom Nachreiner, and stained glass under Gary Chaudoir. He and Carolyn have operated Stillwoods Art Gallery in Ellison Bay since 2012. Don has written both fiction and nonfiction works, including literary criticism, novellas, short stories, poetry, photographic collections, and a memoir.