Then on one occasion, Tinnart presented his professor with a gift of Jim Thompson Thai silk. The professor deeply impressed with the fine design, encouraged Tinnart to extend his design skills in the area of computer graphics to print and weaving. Back in the 1970s in the United States, a curriculum in textiles and fabric design was virtually unheard of, and in Thailand, it was terrain largely unexplored. Tinnart was one among the first few pioneers to test the waters and blaze the trail. A textile major, Tinnart graduated from Syracuse with a Masters Degree in Fine Arts with First Class Honours