In fourth grade, I had a teacher who LOVED art projects. She had so many ideas, and not enough time to do them all. The result was a few too many unfinished art projects piled in every spare corner and stacked in every spare drawer in her classroom. But, I loved it. I found myself drawing and practicing art as often as I could. I would get home from school just in time for "The Cartoon Factory" show where the guy taught you how to draw everything from fruit with faces to Abraham Lincoln as a giraffe.
All I wanted for Christmas was "How To Draw..." books. And talk about a kid in a candy store when I got colored pencils and sketch books for my birthday. When asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" my response was a determined, "I want to be a Cartoonist for Walt Disney."
I couldn't wait for Junior High when they had class hours specifically for ART. I took every art class I could throughout Junior High and High School, and found that cartooning wasn't really my strong point, but that portraits, oil paint, and realistic artwork were what I enjoyed the most. My pieces won many awards, and as a senior, I was selected as the Sterling Scholar in Art.
I was then accepted into the art program at Brigham Young University-Idaho, and started classes January 2006. After one full semester of declaring myself an art major, I knew it wouldn't last. Although I love art, and wanted nothing more but to improve my art, I was lacking the desire to take certain required classes such as Art History, Art Appreciation, and Study of the Arts. All I wanted to do....was art!
So, I found another route to go and took what is called a "cluster" in art where I could pick and choose the classes I wanted to take, without having to take what I considered the "boring classes." Sweet! I learned as much as I could before I graduated in University Studies with an Associates Degree in Preschool Education, a cluster in Art and a cluster in Culinary Arts.
Now, I do art as a hobby! I enjoy trying all different kinds of mediums and subjects. I love the challenge of taking a blank canvas or paper and turning it into something beautiful.
Alicia Merrill