Overcoming Lifes’ Obstacles

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Drawing by Charles Simmons

For as long as I can remember I have had a love and passion to draw.

Through the years, due to various things in my life making demands on my time, drawing and art in general, has had different faces and roles in my life.

I had a very bad experience with an art instructor when I was about 13/14 years old.

I always did well in art classes and aspired to be an artist when I grew up. I planned on art being my career of choice and loved every aspect of creating works of art as extensions of my mind and hands. I tended towards more realistic and naturalistic art and she did not. She ripped my work and my core being to shreds whenever I did naturalistic work. She tried to mold me into an expressionistic artist.

Although when required I did well in that art form but it was not me and who I was as an artist and quit art altogether after that experience as she was the only instructor in that school.

She still is one of the challenges I have to hurdle when applying myself in my artistic endeavors. After all these years I still hear her in the back of my mind crushing me at ever chance she could, saying I am not good enough and do not have what it takes to pursue art as a career.

After no longer mentally thinking I was any good and totally crushed as an artist, I pursued a career in Horticulture. I attended a college which gave me a good background in plant structure and form as well as horticultural design.

Even though no longer pursuing art as a career I was able to express myself in a different medium other than pencil, brushes, paints and paper. I used flowers instead to create works of art using line, form, color and all the elements in this new art medium to express myself.

After having a great career using flower design as a base for my creativity, I married a lovely girl and my family started to grow.

I made a drastic career choice to improve my financial condition and ended up working with a police department. As my career developed over the years, as a civilian working with the department as a Crime Scene Technician, I was afforded the opportunity to become a composite artist.

What an exciting experience it was to again use my new found training in art to help people working with the department to capture from witnesses’ memory perpetrators of various crimes. It was an exciting time in my life to again have my core love for art now being nurtured and used to help people overcome some of the tragedies in their lives through this art form.

After having to take an early retirement for health reasons I now have more time to explore my love and passion for drawing again. I have seen the ads for the Drawing Academy and followed some of the comments from what appears to be knowledgeable, nurturing and caring instructors.

I am mostly self-taught, and need at this point some training and more discipline in pursuing art to a possibly newer and higher level of expertise. The courses given at the Drawing Academy and follow-up advise given by the fine quality of instructors here at the academy would be a great tool for me to learn from.

I finally have combined at the same time, the time, the desire, and with the Academies help, the means to further my interests and push me to a greater understanding of the basics of drawing in general.

The only thing standing in my way at this point in time is being on a fixed income and having to use my finances more for the necessities in life.

My goal, should anyone feel to vote for me as a candidate for this fantastic opportunity (and I truly hope you might be inclined to do so) would be to encourage others to join and use the Drawing Academy for the pursuit of their artistic dreams. I would also continue to strive and to help others whenever I can to pass on what I will learn and will be learning as a student of this remarkable academy. Thank you for your time and consideration for me as a candidate for this tremendous opportunity