Life update

Umm, wow. My last post was September 4th. Whoops! A quick little life update might be in order. And then I promise a few new kids art lessons are coming very soon, too!

Sooo how to summarize that last 3 months. Since getting back from Madagascar, Ive basically been job-searching, and here's why. While it would be my ultimate ideal to have 50% of my job be teaching kids art, and 50% of my job be painting murals for clients, at this point in my life, I've decided to pursue other paths to meet the same ultimate end-goal: being a full-time creative who gets paid to do creative things. I always hear that you should never, ever "give up on your dreams" and that you should "follow your bliss" and all of that. And in art school, you tend to hear a lot of "don't EVER sell out....man." I would say that one year ago, I was working really, really, hard at making that 50/50 Teacher/Muralist goal work out. And I still want it to happen, maybe someday. So what's changed and why am I job-searching?  I don't know how to put it any other way, other than my biological clock is ticking louder than ever. Ha! I know that at 28, I've still got plenty of time to make that happen. But, I guess I'm just realizing that I CAN still be paid to use my brain and creative energy, and also provide for a kiddo someday.... and have health insurance! As liberating as freelancing is, it wears on you. A stable, reliable paycheck would not be so bad. As fun as it is to work in a lot of different schools for a short amount of time (love the variety and changes of scenery), that wears on me, too. I'm ready for co-workers and a "work-family" that I can get to know, without having to leave them a few weeks later every time. The direction I decided to really pursue, is graphic design. Since learning Photoshop in my high school newspaper class, I've enjoyed the "techie" side of art. I like playing around with fonts and color palettes and arranging content so that it's visually pleasing. I've always made my own business cards and brochures and designed my own websites. That stuff is really fun for me. I didn't really think about bringing it to the forefront until pretty recently. I've done a little freelance work making logos, and the rush I felt, knowing my logo would be all over their printed materials and scrubs and street sign, was awesome.  This is a viable option for me, I realized. I think this will make me happy, too.  What it really boils down to, is that I am an artist who just likes the process of making art, in many different forms. I actually find I am MORE creative when given a set of constraints from a client, rather than creating something out of thin air for myself that can be anything I want it to be in the whole world.  I actually like being a commercial artist. Rarely have my mural projects been 100% concepts that I would choose myself for my own home..... but that's the whole point! My job is to get inside my clients' head and find out exactly what they might not even know they want. And then I make it for them, and it makes them happy. Whether I'm making that thing they want with paint or with a computer mouse, I think it would still be similarly satisfying for me. While that doesn't work for every artist, it works for me.  I'll never, ever stop loving the feeling of pushing paint around a canvas or wall, and if I get a full-time graphic design job, that doesn't mean I'll stop painting. But I won't have the added pressure of having that painting be something that has to make me money. That thought is incredibly liberating. So while it may seem that by working for an employer I will be giving up my freedom, it's actually gaining me a bunch of it, too.  So that's where I am right now... in the midst of job-searching madness, but still teaching and being a design intern at a local company in the meantime. Hoping to have something nailed down soon, but for now, staying busy, having fun, making stuff.

Stay tuned... next post will be more colorful, I promise ;)

- Corie