I am motivated by the possibility of turning ordinary everyday places and objects into the extraordinary. The environment we are surrounded by can influence our mindset. Whether it is a fully themed amusement park, a medical center, or a simple living room, I want to think more about what I am designing, why I am designing it, and how I can design it better. Creating something extraordinary can only be done when paying equal attention to the function and the aesthetics. Consumers of art and design can be forced to choose one or the other, but I believe both can be achieved. I believe in making functional pieces with an artistic influence so that we can appreciate art in our day-to-day lives. Although I appreciate art for arts sake and art to make a statement, I find the most joy in creating functional art. For me, I want technology and digital media to be a tool in the early stages of a physical creation rather than the final project. Our current reality is that nearly everything is drafted on the computer, but I want to go beyond the computer model and create things that exist in the physical world. Research is essential to creativity, especially in my quest for functioning art. By seeing and understanding the flaws of previous creations, I am able to avoid mistakes and make improvements. I also think it is important to research the feasibility of creative ideas. Someday I’d like to turn my designs into a reality and start my own business. To do this, I need to create things that make economic sense.

As and artist and as a person I believe I have both strengths and weaknesses. One of my greatest strengths is my ability to be versatile. I have a wide range of digital and physical art skills such as movie editing, 3D modeling, texturing, animating, graphic design, photo manipulating, and sculpting. Although having many skills isn’t a bad thing, sometimes I feel that by spreading my skill set so thin, I sacrifice the ability to be a master at any one thing. On the other hand, learning how to use so many types of software has made understanding new software much more intuitively. Another asset I have is the ability to develop creative ideas to back up my skill set. It does not matter what type of project I am working on, I can always come up with a creative idea or a solution to the creative problem. I am also able to work a project from inception to completion.  I am incredibly goal oriented, I think about the big picture, and I am organized when it comes from getting from point A to point B on a project. I feel I have high standards when it comes to the quality of work I produce. Although I am proud of what I have accomplished as an artist, I wish I spent more time training to become a better illustrator. Creating quick and easily understandable drawings to relay ideas to other people is extremely important in the creative industry. The only excuse I have for my lack of illustration skills, is that I spent my time working on the other skills as I mentioned previously. I intend to continue to develop my illustration skills as well as gain depth in my current skills.

A continuing theme of who I am as an artist is someone who is versatile. I feel the same thing applies for my inspiration and training. It would be incredibly difficult for me to pick only a few of the many influences I have encountered in my college career. I think The University of Tampa curriculum is part of what shaped me to have such a diverse silk set. I appreciate that the faculty at UT challenged me throughout my experience but also allowed me the creative freedom to produce work that reflects who I am as a person. I am also grateful for the support I received from faculty whenever I needed help. I benefited greatly from being in small enough classes to interact with the professors one on one. I am truly inspired by the depth of knowledge and the amount of passion each of the faculty members have in in their respective areas. None of my questions or curiosities ever went unanswered. I firmly believe that I have been shaped into the artist I am today by each an every professor I encountered over the past four years.

As long as I can work on creative projects I will be fulfilled. My plan is to work in theme park design to gain experience in an industry of fantasy, of extraordinary and larger than life experiences. Eventually I would like to work my way up to being a creative director. Based on my previous internship experience in the theme park industry, I know the skills I learned in my major will be beneficial to my future. Although I was not always creating art, there was not a day that went by that I was not working on a project in Maya, Photoshop, Illustrator or AutoCAD. The creative nature of the business causes for the need for many digital 2D and 3D visuals prior to physically creating things. I enjoy that my broad set skills allows me to work on many different things. I also intend to get my MBA because I think it will help me understand how to be successful in the analytical side of a creative business. Once I have my masters and a wide range of industry experience, I would like to pursue my own business in design to meet the need of the clients. I hope to someday make the business idea I presented in my senior project a reality.