<p>I started going to a community college straight after high school. I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I “grew up” I just knew I wanted to be successful and although my passion was art I never considered it to be something I could go to school for. I got all my core out of the way and after 2 years there was still nothing that interested me as much as the visual arts and when I saw that my college had a BFA program I took a deep breath and dove on in.
It was against the advice of everyone i.e. mom, dad, friends, peers, even strangers were telling me not to do it. Mom and Dad said “it was a nightmare to hear that I wanted to waste my smarts on Art,” in guilt and partly retaliation every time a special occasion came up I would draw or paint them a beautiful piece to show them my talents were equal if not greater to my smarts. Friends who were all Education and Nursing majors said I was taking the easy way out. It made me IRATE! I had already taken all of my core so I pretty much only had studio classes left. So in one semester as my friends were belittling my major I was taking Intro to Photography, Printmaking, Figure Drawing, and Painting II. All they had to do was open a book and read it for 2 hours before their test to pass while I was spending hours trying to map out how I was going to finish each assignment on time while working 40 hours a week, creating new concepts and ideas, figuring out aesthetics, drawing up multiple drafts, spending hours upon hours in a dark room, creating masterpieces one day only to look at it the next day and hate it, getting critiqued by people that didn’t see my vision,etc. Then of course the random people I’d meet at work that had to put their two cents in just echoing every thought that I had prior to choosing to be an art major. “Haven’t you ever heard of starving artists?” “What are you going to do with an art degree?” “Do you really expect someone to pay you to paint pretty pictures everyday?” For the first time, even through all the pressure and stress, I finally loved attending college and thinking that I was going to get a job doing something I love for a living. Unfortunately everyone’s voice eventually muted my own thoughts and 3 semesters in I dropped out completely.
I went through life, worked as a bartender, got married, got divorced, turned 30 years old and at that point I figured I’d just get a “real job.” I did. Everyone was so proud of my decision and I thought I was too. I made a decent salary, I had insurance, I had 401K, I had a 9-5, and I was bored out of my mind everyday for six months straight. Every day waking up to go to work was nothing short of pure misery. There was no creativity, just routine. Mind numbing, soul sucking, mundane routine. I did it for as long as I could stand. My boss offered be a huge raise when I put in my 2 weeks notice, but I told him it wasn’t about money.
I work for a successful graphics/web/mixed media designer now and he has convinced me to go back to finish my degree. Does anyone have any advice on where to go? Have a similar experience? Please share all advice and comments are appreciated. </p>
<p>I am the mother of a professional artist. She’s 26, paints in the style often called “classical skills” based painting. She hears these same comments from so many people, “starving artists” etc. Many people assume that one day she will settle into a “real” job. Many do not understand how professional artists must work, and often ask for donations and free work. While she does donate some work, she must be busy painting, marketing and selling to make a career of this. She works constantly, but she loves it. She never considered doing anything else. She was fortunate in that her parents(!) never told her not to do art, but in fact built her an art studio in the house when she was ten years old.</p>
<p>Congratulations on returning to art/graphics and doing something you really like. Will finishing that degree make a difference, or do you already have the skills set to move forward in the field you want?</p>
<p>Congratulations on finally following your dream, and making a living at it, too! At least you now have the benefit of hindsight. Since you have a good job, do you live in an area where you could go back to college <em>and</em> continue to work? What are your local universities?</p>