I'd like to learn how to extend my experiences in fine art as my college career progresses. I devoted almost all of my extra time in grade school to performing arts and never got a chance to try my hand at painting, drawing, or sculpting. If I can find time to make those electives during school, I think I could expand a lot of ideas I've had with my work in graphic design.
I think the most challenging thing about sharing ideas with someone is fear of intense criticism and that people won't appreciate what I've made. It's something that I've struggled with personally for a long time, and up until recently have made the steps to let go of my insecurities. I know that they're not hurting anybody except myself, and coming to terms with that notion has allowed me to be more fearless in creating art or music.
One of the most captivating places I've visited was the La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain.The cathedral's architect, Antonà GaudÃ, had huge plans to create a place of worship through his art, and even though it's construction isn't finished, he's definitely succeeded in that. The intricate ceilings and masonry transport its visitors to another, etherial world. Every time I talk about traveling, I know I need to go back because I know I only saw a fraction, and I'd love to see what's been worked on since I saw it a few years ago.
Choosing my major came from a lot of trial and error. I was initially a Music Performance Major at Metro State, but I found myself at odds with the curriculum and teachers to where I couldn't continue in the program. I looked at doing another major in the same school year, this time in English Composition. I enjoy a good argument, and knew I'd be poised to do well in a Rhetoric and Argumentative emphasis. But weighing the options for a future job, I didn't think it would be wise to invest in something that would be hard to find work for.
My dad's a longtime graphic designer, and showed me how to use design to communicate ideas from an early age. For a long time, I just thought that it's something that my dad did, but looking at how design affect almost everything in today's society, I thought I would take a crack at it and go back to school. And I'm glad I made the choice to come back.
When it comes to working as a team, the best place I find myself at my most creative is when I work with other musicians. I write quite a bit of music on my own, but a lot of it is fragmented and feels like there's pieces missing. When I bring my ideas to a group, they fill in the cracks almost instantly. My favorite projects are when I get to collaborate on classic songs with my mates in my wedding band, and when I get to combine sounds from multiple influences when writing originals.
On the flip side, I find it hard to work when someone in a group is reluctant to accept ideas that aren't their own. Just this past semester, a group project turned out to be really difficult because of a group member not wanting to participate or ask questions if it didn't apply to her ideas. I think those instances are far and few in-between, but they're a learning experience when they come along.
For my paper this semester, I took a closer look at David Bowie's creative process, and through my research, I found out I knew very little about one of my most significant influences. I didn't realize that he faced immense pushback when starting out or that he had started a side project at the height of his commercial success as a creative outlet. Bowie's approach to creativity went through numerous changes, just like his ever-changing personas, and I think that knowing more about him brings him to a level of fellow creative than propped up higher as a level of creativity no one could dare to reach.
I think that this time around, going to college has taught me how to manage my work, but also how to manage my stress better. Going to therapy provided by CU has been honestly my saving grace, and I know that this attempt at getting help is going to be the most lasting experience. Knowing how to communicate my priorities to others feels so much easier, and communicating to myself that I'm stressed and knowing that it'll pass has been such a relief. Asking for help for anything major has always been a struggle for me, but knowing that it's normal and okay to ask for help almost feels like a superpower I just found out that I have.
Over the course of the semester, I've learned that my creativity was with me all along, but was kept almost as a prisoner by my own mindset. It's been a long time since I've felt comfortable sharing anything that I've made, whether its music or with graphic design. I think a lot of it has to do with past experiences since going to college the first time.
My first attempt at college was a rough one, to say the least. By the end, I basically threw in the towel when it came to performing music, and my personal life took a toll to where I felt like I couldn't write my ideas down anymore. I felt like I had lost a lot of myself since then, and it's been a long journey to find all the pieces that I thought were gone.
Talking through my experiences was one thing I knew I needed to do in order to move forward, especially going back to school. I'm about half way through a counseling program here at CU, and I honestly think that it was the key to getting back to who I know I am. Since I've started taking classes, I've felt my creativity blast off with everything that I'm involved in, and being in a more welcome environment both at school and at home has made that possible.
Sitting on the couch in my new home, I notice a mirror my girlfriend put up not long after we moved in over our fireplace in our living room. It's about two feet in diameter, perfectly round in shape with a silver trim about three quarters of an inch thick. It's slightly off center from the middle of the mantle, and looking back and forth from the mirror to the red brick and gold accents of the fireplace, it clashes pretty hard. Like a 'we need to relocate this now' kind of hard.
In the mirror I see our light stained wooden railing (which is going in a few weeks) and the dividing wall in the loft at the top of the stairs. This house was built around having as much natural light as possible, and there's not a whole lot of lighting upstairs because of it. It almost looks like its a hole above the fireplace, or like I'm peering into someone else's house through a portal as I'm writing this at 11:30 at night.
The mirror has a subtle, almost eerie elegance to it, and if we do move it, I'm curious to see if it'll have the same effect somewhere else, or perhaps a stronger one.
I'd like to learn how to extend my experiences in fine art as my college career progresses. I devoted almost all of my extra time in gra...
