My memory is odd. I can remember complex theological frameworks, the wonders of the quantum world, plot points from various books but fuzz on faces and many of my life experiences. I don’t remember my first day of kindergarten….just remember tears. I don’t remember my first day of any school year really—they just form a texture of fear, apprehension and extreme sorrow since it always pounded a nail in summer’s coffin. What I do remember is the first day of college where I thought I made a huge mistake: I became an artist.

I remember listening to the professor’s speech (which bored me) about the beauty of abstract art (which I vehemently disagreed with) before being mandated to Begin (which boggled me).

With ink-loaded paint brush I tentatively attacked my paper; splatters, sprinkles and ink-squirts abounded. When I was done me and these two guys next to me stepped back from our smeared papers and looked at each other. The sorrow in their eyes was no doubt a reflection of what was in my own. I had thrown away computer programming to smear ink. Fine art indeed.

One of those two eventually switched to a communications major, was laughed to scorn by me and the rest of our art group, subsequently got hired by Nickelodeon and has been inking their work over there: he showed us. The other stuck to fine art, eventually took his masters and now is featured at gallery shows while being a professor at my Alma Mata.

Me, I held out hope to get into the comic book industry for the next year—realizing that there were people way better than me and knowing that I was pretty much a rip-off artist: I had no personal style. I eventually switched to a Graphic Design major (and laughed to scorn by the rest of our art group), eventually got hired by a small design firm and have been working (thank God) ever since.

I’ve since learned several lessons. I’ve learned that because you’re in communications doesn’t mean you’re not broadcasting art’s message. I’ve learned that because you’re a Fine Artist doesn’t mean you don’t teach art’s message. I’ve learned just because I’m a graphic designer doesn’t mean that I don’t touch the brush and disappear in art’s message. All different aspects of the heading Artist.

–Check out some of the others on Janet’s site—