They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Well, mine began with a single flash.
When I was 10 years old, my parents bought me a hot pink camera. It was plastic, but it had real film and it gave me an exciting new way to connect with the world around me. I didn’t know it at the time, but that little plastic beauty was my introduction into what would become my passion: art.
Fast forward years later: I have my own family and my little pink camera is now a dinosaur, with film and darkrooms having long since been replaced by digital cameras and LCDs. But my desire to connect with the world around me through visual arts has never changed. While hairstyles, addresses, and jobs have come and gone, art, in all of its many forms, is still my passion. It’s a passion that I love to share with my daughter during painting or Play-doh sculpture sessions, as well as with my students at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home, where I teach photography, graphic and web design classes.
Passion, like all great art, is easy to appreciate once it’s a beautiful masterpiece. But sometimes we forget the details—each stroke, each click, each step (and misstep)—that made the piece come to life. Here are a few unexpected things that happened to me, and the lessons I’ve learned from the process of painting my life’s work.
I was unsure.
I began my college career at ASUMH to get my basics, but I was a bit unsure of where I would go from there. I took a drawing elective, because it’s true, I loved art, but I couldn’t imagine it paying the bills. But, through the guidance and encouragement of my art instructor, the late Mrs. Phyllis Bailey, I discovered that I could use my visual thinking talents for a career as a graphic designer, which I had never even heard of. Upon graduating with my associate of arts degree, I transferred to ASU Jonesboro to obtain a bachelor of fine arts degree with an emphasis in graphic design without really knowing what it entailed, just that I would get to pursue my passion for art.
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LESSON: Be willing to take the tiniest step
toward your dreams even when you’re
not completely certain where it will lead.
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I got lost.
One of the highlights of my undergraduate education was attending Lorezno de’Medici Art Institute in Florence, Italy. I learned fascinating things in my classes. I saw in-person the historically important masterpieces I had studied in my art history classes. I painted (semi-acceptable) watercolors of some of the most beautiful places. But most of all, I learned a lot about myself. The experience made me more independent and self-reliant. It forced me to step out of my comfort zone. I had never been that far away from home or my loved ones. I found myself getting around on my own in a foreign country, with an actual map (GPS wasn’t invented yet). It was an incredible educational experience and I am very thankful that I had the opportunity.
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LESSON: Your passion may take you to some
unexpected places. Don’t be afraid.
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I hustled.
While pursuing my degree at ASU Jonesboro, I worked as a photography assistant and as an administrative assistant in the College of Fine Arts dean’s office. This gave me the opportunity to get to know the faculty on a more personal level. It was here that I realized I wanted to become a college professor, although this dream wouldn’t become a reality for quite some time.
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LESSON: Your work may not pay off
immediately, but keep pursuing it.
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I believed I could.
Once I learned where a degree in graphic design would take me, I had to see it! I took field trips to advertising agencies in bigger cities like Memphis and Dallas to see first-hand the types of jobs that awaited me. The most impressive agency I visited was located in an old candy factory overlooking the Mississippi River in Memphis. The employees loved what they did and one of the owner’s claims to fame was writing the McDonald’s Big Mac jingle (“two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles…”). I was hooked. And just like that, my new goal was to work at this place where they were happily pumping out creative magic for their clients daily. I worked really hard on my portfolio. I had a few interviews that ended in tears. But finally, my time had come and I landed my dream internship.
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LESSON: It’s okay to set very specific goals.
Ignore the voice in your head (or people)
who say you can’t and go for it!
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I struggled.
Although some of my early work still makes me cringe, my experience at the agency allowed me to learn so much about the advertising world. The client meetings were always exciting. One of the first accounts I worked on was for the NBA team, the Memphis Grizzlies. I was in awe listening to my creative director and the agency principals pitch the designs. Once the internship and the summer were over, I graduated and surprisingly got a call from the agency with my first official job offer. My hard work through college was paying off! I was so excited, although my parents weren’t too excited to see me move to the big city all alone. Did I mention this had been an unpaid internship? Or that I had to drive two hours every day from Jonesboro to Memphis? I could have allowed the fact that the internship was unpaid or the long commute to make me lose sight of the fact that I was living the dream. I chose to frame it in a positive way: I set out to work at this agency, and I did it, and I didn’t let the other issues cloud the picture.
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LESSON: It’s your canvas;
you choose how to frame it.
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Carpe diem.
Sadly, after several years, the owners decided to close the agency. We were all very sad to have to move on, but thankfully my professional networking paid off because I got several calls with job offers that very week, which began my new career working as a freelance and in-house designer for several different types of clients, businesses, and publications. It was also during this time that I got my first opportunity to teach as an adjunct professor. Once again, I felt called to teach and I decided to get my master’s degree.
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LESSON: Sometimes doors close on the journey
of pursuing your passion; try a window.
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I didn’t do it alone.
The decision to go back to school wasn’t an easy one. I had to leave a great job and salary. Thankfully, my boyfriend at the time supported my decision to go back to school. After about 10 years of dating (mostly long-distance), I decided he was a keeper. We decided to get married and moved to Memphis together. I was freelancing and attending school full time. My husband had to sacrifice a lot. For three years he drove two hours every day, worked insane hours, and took online classes for his master’s degree. I couldn’t have done it without him. Once I got my master of fine arts degree, he was again completely willing to give up his job to move wherever I got a job, which, to our surprise happened to be at ASUMH, where it all started. We are so thankful to be here now. We love our jobs, being a part of this community, and raising our children near family. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to give back to my students the way my past teachers, creative teams, and bosses have helped me learn and grow. Now that I’m an instructor, I feel so proud watching my students’ dreams become a reality through their hard work.
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LESSON: We all have a person (or 12) who
deserves some gratitude for
helping us along the way.
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Of course my work is far from finished. I’m in my second year of teaching at ASUMH and we are expecting our second child soon. Just like my parents fostered my creativity with that unforgettable pink camera, I hope to pass down things to my little ones to help their imaginations soar. And for my students, I hope that I pass along the encouragement they need to paint the world as they want to live it—and the wisdom to know that it’s definitely ok to color outside the lines. M! December 2014/January 2015
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