I know one day I'll look through these blog posts and have mixed feelings. I'll be very happy I wrote them for sure, I may cringe at how I wrote, and what I was thinking about. I'll probably shake my head looking through the things I was learning, and thought I was a master at - at least subconsciously. But irregardless, I will write because it is the best way to somehow manage to bring all of my thoughts together that swim wildly and aimlessly. These posts provide a fishing net that captures similar thoughts into a sort of neatly organized container. (It’s also a great cross training project for me to exercise another creative skill.) It's all within a pathway, a journey that flows without direction and has brought me places I didn't think I could be because of the chances I've taken. This post is a general overview of the most important positive influences throughout my life thus far that have shaped my decisions to follow a creative track.
My goals tend to fluctuate slightly, however they've tended to stay within the same realm. Since I was 3, I knew I wanted to be an artist. I remember getting my first sketchbook from my parents at 3 years old. That is surely a core memory that shaped and inspired my future. I still remember my dad sketching on the first page showing me how to draw.
At 8, I wanted to be a roller coaster designer. (Holla, Roller Coaster Tycoon.) I also simultaneously wanted to be a fashion designer, but also wanted to be a traditional fine artist throughout it all. Throw that together with having an appreciation and slight desire to work in interior design...while also creating "movies" with our family tape recorder...and also wanting to be a writer at 9.
I had one of the most formative years of my life during 4th grade where my impressively lively, dynamic and inspiring teacher Mr. Warren taught us how to write through creative writing exercises. My writing reached new heights that I didn't even realize was possible. I was at least pretty convinced that writing was something I'd be doing. It did fade out for a while...But I'm not too sure now!
Photography soon kicked in a year later. I received my first long awaited point and shoot camera at 10, and began to foster that interest in the background. I taught myself mostly everything through books, online and experimenting from that age. In between this time I fell in love with dancing, and singing. (While also swimming competitively) I even choreographed a talent show song and dance with my best friend. My other best friend's mom even payed for a year of dance lessons for me after seeing my love for it and knowing that my family couldn't afford it.
Then my sister began working at Disney World. She brought Imagineering to my attention when I was 13. That became my obsession for the next few years, and still is a little bit. I'd check out Imagineering books (yes those exist and they're amazing) and photography books from the library simultaneously soaking up as much info as possible. Especially in the Imagineering books, those awesome buzz words like "innovation", "learning", and "storytelling" really sparked something in me. I discovered concept design and visual development through researching and have been hooked on that ever since. Being able to create an experience, a story that is not just flat in a book or a movie was incredibly appealing and still is. Also at 13 I received my guitar which I still have and adore. Music is a way to de-stress for me, another form of expression I want to share with others more down the road once I have more established in my career.
I continued my desire to work in Imagineering up throughout high school. I continued making short movies, doing Photography, dancing and drawing and painting. (Shoutout to Bob Ross for teaching me my first oil painting techniques.) I went to an alternative high school called "Big Picture" in my last year of school where I could create my own coursework. I based everything around creativity, studying the golden ratio, and creating a featurette documentary about my missions trip to El Salvador. After graduating high school a year early, I moved back to my home town, Rochester. I decided not to go right into college. I made the right decision.
I met and worked with Steve Carpenter, who actually so happened to work at Disney during the 60's! He's a gem in Rochester, and taught me so much. He even showed me some of the work he made at Disney that is in my favorite futuristic style of the 60's. (If you worked there, at least during that time, you're actually not allowed to let your art leave the company. But he took his that he made on his very first day working there. I think it was so worth the risk!) I learned some amazing skills from him.
During this time one of my great friends, Candace, asked me to take her senior photos. I was actually a little unsure, but I obliged. She said I could probably get our other friends to have me take their pictures as well. So we did the most ultimate photoshoot we could muster out of Rochester! We traveled all around with 2 giant suitcases full of clothes, shoes and accessories. She was my guinea pig, and some of the photos we took during that are still some of my best. (The first photo on my welcome page as well as the small icon on the top of your browser is a photo from that shoot. From that shoot, 8 other friends also had me do their photos for them! It was a success for me, and made me realize how photography could truly be a possibility!
After that, I did go to Community College for a year, which provided me some great motivation to practice my artistic skills. I created my favorite yet so simple painting of an avocado. I still want to create a full series based off of that initial image.
All the while though, each of those passions are alive and well in me, and I juggle them the best I can. I've gone to a couple of art studios since to continue developing my artistic ability. I also have illustrated for a start up called D20, which focuses on helping video gamers become more attentive to their health. I also have shot a small commercial for another local start up, and I have helped a friend with her minimalism journey and finding her true style guiding her in the styling of her room. I continue dancing whenever I have the chance, whether through lessons, or on a whim.
All of those aspects of expression accurately create me. And I try my best to satisfy each passion. I want to become all of those things, and I have to certain extents.
Over the past year, I'd been thinking about what my true goal is, and it may be to be able to do all of these things successfully (or generally continue on my pathway of exploring and developing each of these.) I believe that in the creative field, that is more than possible. Every time I've put my focus into any of these, I have been able to mold my previous experience with another form of "art" to the next one. Finding connections between different art forms bridges the gap between. It could be how the creative process of writing a poem is similar to drawing a portrait. There are themes that connect in each medium, teaching you not only how to draw, but how the creative process you're learning can be applied to another medium. And not only to art, but to sports and exercise, work, or leisure.
I have been discovering that I don’t really have true singular goals, but I have true singular decisions. Each decision I make opens up new pathways, doors and windows. I follow a north star of the common theme of my goals. Always guiding, never limiting, with an intention of experimentation and discovery, letting myself play and (attempting to) never being hard on myself.