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A long, strange trip, from the Age of Aquarius to "Chasing Rainbows." But for this creative couple, love really is all you need.

What do you get when you cross a California-born poet with an ex-military intelligence expert interested in blues harmonica? A happy family, a healthy future and a busy schedule creating unique sculpture for the likes of Dolly Parton, evidently.

Larry and CarrieGlenn Megill met in 1969, but while the '60s sank into the '70s – along with much of the idealism that colored those tie-dyed times – the Megills married and began a personal and creative partnership.

It all began over a cup of coffee at the student union at the University of Tulsa. CarrieGlenn was encouraged by her Oklahoma family to read and create art throughout her childhood while Larry's Okie heritage was, "part dirt-poor share cropper, part artistic – on my father's side." Although they were both seeing other people, something clicked. After a three-month courtship (including a second date where Larry took the vegetarian CarrieGlenn into a tick-infested woods to fish for river carp with a bow and arrow), the two got hitched.

During the early years of their marriage, the Megills found they both enjoyed creating their own custom jewelry. A visit to a Salvador Dali exhibit in the early '70s inspired the couple to take their hobby to the next level, making it as large as life.

With the enthusiasm of artists at the beginning of a new journey, the couple began to construct metal sculpture with equal parts wisdom and whimsy. In expressing what CarrieGlenn refers to as "The Mythical Kingdom," the Megills created spear-bearing army ants, crystal-gazing mermaids and a half-porpoise, half-human creature riding a tiger shark.

"We've found that art gives us a new way to communicate," Larry explained. "You can engage someone and sort of reach out and touch them."

"Even if the response is ‘That's crazy,' it's a response," CarrieGlenn added.

During their years of living, loving and working together, the Megills made a successful move to Nashville, Tenn., where Larry's harmonica garnered him work on the road with stars like William Lee Golden of the Oak Ridge Boys. Their daughter, Miranda, became a filmmaker. The family had a scare in 1995, when CarrieGlen was diagnosed with skin cancer, which she beat the following year.

In 2004, Larry and CarrieGlenn's hard work and imaginative productivity paid off when they were commissioned to create the Reading Works award that the Nashville Read organization gave to Dolly Parton for her literacy program Imagination Library.

Miss Parton, moved to tears by the beautiful prize, then commissioned the Megills to create her Chasing Rainbows award for three years in a row, from 2004 to 2006. The national award is given by the DollyWood Foundation to the school teacher who has overcome the most difficult obstacles in delivering a quality education. The Megills also built a larger sculpture of the 2004 design that is currently on display in the front window of the Chasing Rainbows Museum at DollyWood.

Far from slowing down, the Megills are currently anticipating future events that might feature their work, while contemplating their next artistic creation.

"Saint Clair said, ‘You won't have anything to say until you are old,'" Larry said, referring to the Choctaw Native American sculptor Saint Clair Homer. "He was right."

"We're there now," CarrieGlenn said, laughing. "We've got something to say and it's like we're just beginning."

To find out more about the Megill family's sculpture, music and writing, visit Megillart.