Thank you so much for your service, John.  No, I am self-taught.  Just recently began decorating cakes frequently.  I used to do cakes once a year for my daughter's birthday when she was a toddler...she is now 23 with a son of her own!  I started as an artist.  Painted in high school and college, designed and stitched needlepoint and embroidery for many years, got into cloth dolls and then started sculpting polymer clay when I was in my 40's.  When I turned 50 five years ago, I started having vision problems with all the intricate details, and carpal tunnel forced me to give up sculpting and needlecrafts...so I took some Wilton Cake Decorating classes with a friend about a year and a half ago, and my new passion was born.  I am having fun!  Get to integrate the many things I learned about scupting and carving clay into edible art!  I like your cakes!  Very clean!  It's so nice to see more men get into cake design and decorating.