The Juggling Act of being an artist /The World is Your Oyster...

Hi everybody,

Yes, it's been a while again. Too long a while, and that's because I am back in school working on a second degree, the latest one in Video Game Art. I'm currently taking 2 summer hybrid classes.

Honestly, I did not know what I was getting myself into - for starters, I don't play games because when I'm not working, eating, sleeping.... I am painting, drawing, planning and hosting group art events, and creating new art. If anyone would have told me: Hey Leslie, you will be learning around 10 new hearty software programs within 2 years, I honestly would have bolted like a scared jackrabbit.

I"m sharing this with you  because I want you to know how terribly difficult it was for me in the beginning and still is- to be a painter, part time art teacher and full time student in a subject that is so completely software intensive. I wanted to give up so many times, would have crying fits in the school bathrooms feeling so overwhelmed/ algebra flashbacks and the anxiety learning everything all brand new to me, compiled with some personal heartbreaks, seemed insurmountable.

Now things are better and beginning to get interesting. My painting has vastly improved, in part I think because of working in software that has made me look at environments with different tools. I am very interested in new technology and pieces of the 3d puzzle that I thought would never make sense to me finally  do and I am getting better and stronger every day. (Feel free to burst into your choice of song, "Survivor" or "I will Survive". We all have lived it one time or another)

The thing is, all of us have to juggle lots of things to survive in our complicated world now, so you have to be even more creative and proactive in shaping your own life course. While studying Video Game Art, I discovered I love Motion Graphics- so am adding that to my program. It is worth hanging in even when things are hard and you feel like you have been kicked in the gut one too many times. Hang in, lovely people. Hang in because guess what? Even when times are tough, the world truly is your oyster.