art college was…interesting

Hi, If you are reading this, you are reading a very old entry from before I launched the website. I wanted to write something that some of you may relate to and maybe a potential cautionary tale. Well, hear me out, there’s nothing totally wrong with art school—that is, if you attend Juilliard or something along those lines. I went to a design school, and the best way I can sum it up is…show and tell. And a lot of essays.

Lots and lots of essays.

Well, I am grateful for the experience, and it taught me a lot of life skills I was too disassociated to learn in high school. Time management, collaboration, stress management…how to pace your sleep schedule enough for frequent all-nighters… But of all else, I learned life just isn’t fair, at least in the art world it isn’t.

I feel like my entire art life I’ve been submitting for some kind of art competition. First it was to see which drawing got a spot in the yearbook, which drawing became a mural, which drawing was going to win a scholastic award, which drawing was going to get you into the music festival downtown, and which drawing would be chosen for professional projects such as Kohl's, Johnsonville, a local magazine, or Carmex.

It then dawned on me as I became a professional. It's way cheaper to pay an amateur student in art school much less than a full-time employee for work. You get me?

Artists will forever be exploited in some ways, and if you aren’t smart enough, you can let that become your entire worth in the art industry. I look back and wonder why I felt so ashamed for never being “picked” by these large projects or companies. Life is way more abundant than that. Your potential in the art is worth more than a show-and-tell critique or an all-nighter project to get your design selected for Collectivo…unpaid. Find your real voice, expand on it and see where it leads you!

why i don’t use instagraM

For a crazy long time, ever since 2013, the immense pressure to be on Instagram has been nonstop. I had a few pages, I felt the pressure, caved into it, compared myself, and finally, after graduating design school, I QUIT…. Then I downloaded it again… Entered a pageant, gained followers… THEN QUIT AGAIN, OMG, why did I have so many Instagram pages? Because that was what everyone else had, and if you want anyone to see your artwork, you better have an Instagram. You tell me, is that where you found me? No, most likely not. I apologize to everyone that I shipped a QR code to from my previous Instagram page. I deleted that one as well. (Yikes). Well, here’s the thing. I love YouTube. I love YouTube Shorts, and there’s something about actual long-form content that feels right to me. Everyone has their social media of choice, and sometimes it isn’t always Instagram. There are many ways to show off your work.

Mental health is super important to me, and I’ve noticed with the continuous use of Instagram it was declining... Fast.

I know comparison is the thief of joy, but hear me out, it wasn’t just that. It’s overstimulating. The explore page is just a click away, and you're instantly bombarded with so much information, and with the lack of monitoring on the app now, information you didn’t exactly want to see… Regardless, the energy of Instagram to me feels very chaotic, ongoing, and manic. As someone who struggles with mental health, it is very easy for me to take in and internalize information and let it affect my day. An old friend of mine uses Instagram as his primary source to bring in clients, and it may have worked for him, but it doesn’t have to work for every small business owner. Sometimes it’s easier to just let people find you, you know? Not to mention posting on that app is like a full-time job, and I don’t know about you, but I love naps. Seriously.