When I was in high school, I began to struggle with depression and anxiety. Despite the additional difficulty these mental health struggles brought me, I managed to finish my high school career with a 3.48 GPA. I made super last minute plans a month before graduation to start an online degree through Full Sail University that fall. In August of that same year, my grandmother was killed in a terrible car crash. I had taken her to see a play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. On her way home from dropping me off after the show, she came to an intersection on the road that would shortly be ran through by a man running from the police after being found in violation of his parol. The man ran his truck into the side of my grandmother’s car while speeding down the road at 100 miles per hour, sending both himself and my grandmother crashing into a minute market nearby. The crash instantly killed my grandmother. I was awoken the morning after the play by my parents coming into my bedroom. They were frantically looking for my cell phone so that I wouldn’t have to learn the terrible news of my grandmother’s accident from my mentally handicapped aunt calling me freaking out. They wanted the delivery of the situation to be done as gently as possible. They hadn’t been sure if they should let me sleep or not, but coming into my room woke me up anyways. I could instantly tell something was wrong, my heart began pounding wildly in my chest. “Your grandma has been in a car accident…she didn’t make it”. I instantly blamed myself for the incident. She was only out so late because of me. If we didn’t go to that show then everything would be fine. Of course, this wasn’t the truth. But these are the kinds of thoughts that fill your head when something like this happens. In the month following my grandmother’s death, my depression grew even worse. I was thrown into the darkest mental state I had ever been in. Most of my days were filled with endless crying, panic, and self hatred. My nights were sleepless and on the occasions that I did manage to fall asleep, I often woke up shaking and panicking in the middle. I knew there was no way I could possibly focus on college while dealing with my grief and depression. I did not continue with the enrollment process at Full Sail University or my back up plan of going to the local community college. There are a few things I was told during the time around when my grandmother pass that stuck with me through out my grieving process. The first of which came from my grandmother herself the night that we had gone to the Shakespeare Festival. “I just want you to be happy and healthy”. My grandmother knew I had been struggling with depression for years. As someone who also struggled with depression, she was often worried about me going through a similar experience as hers. The second thing that stuck with me was my father telling me “don’t turn your back on God because of this. Your grandma would hate for that to happen”. My grandmother was the one person I knew in my life who had an unwavering faith in God, and would often say things like “I can’t wait to go home to my Jesus”. She found her main source of joy in her faith in the Lord and wanted nothing more than for others to experience the same love. The third thing that stuck with me came from the judge who resided over sentencing the man who killed my grandmother. As part of the sentencing process, the judge allowed for those directly affected by my grandmother’s death to submit written victim statements. In mine, I included a lot about my grandmother being my best friend and one of the greatest supporters of my art. I wrote about how I didn’t know if I would ever be able to find happiness in creating again without the excitement of my grandma showing up for the things I was doing. The judge addressed me during the sentencing saying that my grandmother would want me to continue my art and that she also wanted me to. I made sure to cling to these words given to me over the following years navigating through my grief and depression. It took years of growing in my faith, some self induced exposure therapy, many walks and talks with my parents, and finding a medication that helped lessen the worst of my depressive symptoms, but I finally reached a point where I felt stable enough again. While recently trying to figure out what I might want to do with my future, I received an email telling me that I might quality for the Oregon Opportunity grant. Realizing that I still had a desire to go to college, I sent an email to the community college that I had applied to before to figure out the steps that I needed to take. I am now planning on pursuing an associates degree with a focus in art at Rogue Community College this fall. I truly believe that I wouldn’t have appreciated or focused enough on college if I would have gone directly out of high school. While fighting through my grief and depression, I learned that I’m a lot tougher than I ever realized before. I’m finally at a place where I’m excited for the future. I want to be a working artist in the creative industry doing something along the lines of video game art, illustration, or concept art. I can’t wait to see where the next few years will take me. And I know my grandmother would be proud to see how far I’ve come.

Minecraft has so many different things that you can do as a player. No matter how many times I make a new save in the game, the one aspect I always find myself spending a lot of time on is building my base camp. I love seeing what I can make out of the different materials that I go out to collect through out the game. Minecraft offers so many elements that you can use to create just about anything you can think up. I’m still learning how to properly build more than just square house in the game, but I strive to keep trying. I think I enjoy building and decorating so much in Minecraft because I’m an artist always looking to create new things in real life. The thing about creating in real life is that you’re limited by the amount of space and materials that you have. I don’t have an endless amount of money to be able to build anything that my heart desires in the real world. In Minecraft, if you can find it, you can collect it. The only real limit to what you can create in Minecraft is your own personal level of creativity.

During the Covid lock downs of 2020, I made the decision to purchase my first Nintendo Switch console. I had seen other people posting online about playing the new Animal Crossing game, Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Through some posting on Instagram, I found a welcoming community of other Animal Crossing players to join on Discord. Members would use the Discord to arrange in game meet ups to explore each other’s islands, swap recipes and items, and to host parties with each other. Many of the members, including myself, would also participate in chatting about the game and life in general in the chat section of the Discord server. I hadn’t really ever found a community of gamers to be a part of online before and found it super exciting to have found this one. Everyone was super helpful and encouraging in making sure that other players got to achieve their goals in the game. Whether that included swapping in game items and recipes, sharing patterns and inspiration with each other we found on other websites, or providing each other with advice, there was always someone online willing to lend a helpful hand. I eventually decided to upgrade from a Nintendo Switch lite to the full version. This freed up the first Switch for my mom to be able to play on. I got her to try out Animal Crossing and she absolutely loves it. The only other game my mom has consistently played through out my life has been The Sims series, so getting her excited about playing a new game was a big deal. We’ve played together for hours at a time, happily showing each other the newest areas we decorated on our islands and gifting each other new items to use. On a normal basis, I tend to be a solo player when it comes to video games. Animal Crossing: New Horizons opened a new element of gaming for me and made me thrilled to share in the adventure with other players. I don’t know if I’ll ever find a similar community for any other video games, but I’m glad to have participated in playing Animal Crossing with others who love the game.

Netflix’s Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space is one of those shows that I can easily watch over and over again. Every episode is filled with whimsy, beautifully crafted artwork, and a humorous cast of characters. Just the background artwork alone in each episode is so full of fun background elements that I find myself noticing something new every time I rewatch the show. As an artist who loves using a lot of color and silly characters in my creations, I draw a lot of inspiration from the art style used in Bee and PuppyCat. I also find it very inspiring that the original episodes were created as a small YouTube animation series that gained a big enough following to be picked up and expanded on by Netflix. Another element I enjoy about Bee and PuppyCat is that while at surface level, the series seems random and some times simple in plot, each of the characters have their own deeper background stories that develop and connect with each other through out the show. I love when shows slowly reveal that all of the character’s lives actually piece together into a bigger plot than originally revealed. Building the storyline in such a way is a great way to keep the viewer hooked and wanting to find out what happens next. I love the juxtaposition of PuppyCat’s super cutesy appearance and high pitched vocaloid voice verses his often grumpy disposition. Some of the things he says make for some pretty iconic catch phrases to use in making fan art, something in which I have done multiple times based on the character. Through out the story of Bee and PuppyCat, the main character Bee, encourages those around her to not be afraid to show who they truly are and to follow their dreams. Bee also always has a cheerful, can-do attitude which produces funny situations while dealing with her grouchy companion, PuppyCat. The different plot points explored in Bee and PuppyCat are very original compared to a lot of other anime I’ve watched. Having an original story to follow can be refreshing as it’s hard to find shows that don’t feel like they’re copying each other. I have found that the fans of Bee and PuppyCat that I’ve interacted with have always been super friendly and excited to talk about the show. These interactions always leave me feeling happy to have connected with other Bee and PuppyCat enthusiasts. This is unfortunately not the case with all anime based interactions as some people in the anime community will bash on others for their preferences.

“Ugh, I’m glad that work is over with for the week,” I sigh, trudging up the stairs to my second story apartment. I work as a barista at a small coffee shop down the street from my apartment building. While I love pouring the drinks and smelling the coffee as it brews, the customers can truly be the worst sometimes. For example, today I had a man come up to order while talking very loudly into his cellphone. “Excuse me, sir,” I said, high pitched can-do customer service attitude in action, “I just wanna make sure I have your order right. You said a large latte, correct?” The man glares at me and throws his hand up in an aggressive motion, pointing to his cell phone in a “can’t you see I’m busy here” kind of way. I just smile and nod, telling him that his order will be ready soon. Mr. My Phone Call is More Important Than Your Time stomps his way over to the drink pick up counter. He begins slamming his fist down on the counter repeatedly. “Where’s my drink,” he barks out in demand. It’s barely been thirty seconds since he was at the order counter, how can he expect it to be ready this fast? I turn to look at my co-worker, Morissa. She’s quickly pouring the last of the milk into the man’s coffee before clicking the lid into place. She rolls her eyes at me, our non-verbal way of communicating with each other that the customers really could be pushy. I roll mine back at her and quickly paste my award winning customer service smile back on my face before turning back to the man, drink in hand. “Here you go sir. Sorry about the wait.” I reach to put the drink on the counter. The man yanks it out of my hand before the cup can make contact with the counter top. He takes a large, gulping swallow of the coffee. “This is terrible,” he spits, spraying coffee all over my freshly cleaned pick up station. “I demand a refund. There’s no way you expect me to actually drink this swill.” I stare at him, stunned and in disbelief. “I uh- this is the drink you ordered, sir” I manage to squeak, trying to keep my “the customer is always right” training in mind. I fumble for the next words to say. What am I supposed to do about this? “Here,” Morissa says to the man, as she holds out his money. “We don’t want your money anyways”. She sneers up at him as he snatches the money out of her hand. “Typical. I shouldn’t expect any better service from self entitled college brats like you anyways,” the man scoffs, plodding his way towards the door. I see him take another sip of the drink as he exists. Morrisa throws her middle finger in the air as the door swings shut. “Eh, good riddance to ya anyways,” she laughs. “What an idiot.” I couldn’t help but think of all the ways I knew we would likely get in trouble on Monday. Lord knows, customers like that will always call in a complaint with the manager. Oh well, it’s Friday, I tell myself. No use in thinking about that now. Besides I have more important matters to attend to. A few days ago, I let my next door neighbor’s twelve year old daughter talk me into pet sitting her two kittens while they went on a family road trip. “What could go wrong,” I shrugged, “I’ll watch your kittens for you.” “Oh thank you,” the girl had exclaimed in response, jumping up and down in excitement. “My mom said we wouldn’t be able to stop at the fair on the way to grandma’s if I couldn’t find someone to watch Pumpkin and Lulu while we were away.” Boy was I wrong in thinking that nothing would possibly go wrong. As I make my way towards my front door, a loud, metallic bang crashes from inside my apartment. “Oh, that’s not good,” I sigh, as I shove my key into the lock, and shove the door open. Pots of paint are strewn all over the floor, the cap of one has come off, a pool of green spreads across the carpet. A glitter explosion sparkles up at me from the see of green paint. My sketchbook lays open amidst the wreckage. “No, no, no, no, no,” I shout, rushing into the room. “My landlord is going to kill me for this paint. And how am I supposed to get glitter out of the carpet?” I rush over to lift the sketchbook out of the glittery paint puddle. More of the viscous green liquid drips from the sketchbook pages, landing on the carpet with a “plopping” sound. “Oh, great,” I sigh, carrying the sketchbook over to the trash can in my kitchen. I look up from the trash to find Pumpkin perched on my counter, glittery little foot prints trail across the surface behind her. “Did you do this,” I ask, pointing a finger at the catastrophe in my living room. She lets out a small meow I swear means “who? Little ol’ me?” Another crash rings out from the living room. I rush back in to see that Lulu has knocked over my can of paint brushes. She has one in her paws. She begins chewing on the bristles. “Lulu, that’s for painting not chewing,” I gasp, walking over to her. As I pick her up, the brush falls to the floor. She lets out a howl of disapproval. I look down at her fluffy white face and sigh, “What am I going to do with the two of you?”

I have been passionate about creating ever since I was old enough to hold a crayon. For nearly my entire life, I have always been drawing in some form or another. Sketchbooks, paintings, art class work, trying to turn any class assignment that wasn’t directly art related into an art project of some kind. In elementary school, I even used to doodle on my spelling tests so much that my teacher threatened to take a point off of my grade for every doodle I added if I didn’t stop. That threat may have put an end to my spelling quiz doodling sessions, but it never stopped me from drawing else where. I took my first official art classes when I was in middle school. I would spend hour after hour pouring my best effort into my assigned art projects. I specifically remember staying up late into the night, while the rest of my family slept, to make sure that I put the perfect finishing touches on my drawing for a super hero design project we were assigned. As I continued my way through school, I took more art classes in high school. While researching job possibilities for various reports I was required to write in high school, I discovered that there was a wide variety of art related career possibilities. I could make art for a living?! The idea filled me with excitement. In the years following my graduation from high school, I worked various jobs, none of which really involved much creative energy. While these jobs did provide me with an income and a way to spend my time, I found that I still yearned for something that I could pour my creative skills into. I started my own online shop, trying to sell things featuring my art work such as stickers, art prints, and polymer clay trinkets I crafted by hand. My shop never really resulted in many sales but I still knew that I wasn’t ready to give up. I just needed a different approach to finding self sustainability through my art. I recently decided that I would begin the process of pursuing my first college degree. I plan to finish an associates at Rogue Community College followed by finishing a BA in emerging media/digital arts at Southern Oregon University. I haven’t directly narrowed down my career choice I plan to strive towards after college, but I can envision myself working in something like illustration, video game design, concept art, or story boarding. I absolutely love the creative process. At this point in my life, I don’t think I could ever give up making art. Creating has become a vital part of who I am as a person. I love the process of trying to physically capture an idea that I’ve thought up in my head. The feeling of applying paint to canvas, shading paper with pencil, or forming clay with my hands brings me a form of relaxation and excitement that no other hobbies ever have. The ability to create a whole new piece out of random art supplies is thrilling. Through sharing my artwork online, I have also found a greatly supportive community of like minded creatives. We often cheer each other on and provide each other with tips and tricks we have found through our own creative endeavors. I never would have connected with these lovely people, who all live states and even whole countries away from me, without art. I truly believe art is one of those things that will stick with me for my entire life.

I often find inspiration for my art from elements of the world around me. I especially love drawing flowers, animals, and space. I love to create pieces with more of a whimsical, colorful aesthetic but I always use real life references as the starting point when painting either through direct observation or photos. I generally include floral or fauna elements in my art pieces. One watercolor painting I created recently, was a poster design for a Save The Bees themed art contest hosted by Hollow Honey Foundation. I love bees and have often included them in my art pieces ever since I was in high school. I also believe that bringing awareness to the issue regarding the endangerment of the bee population is very important and that we should all take steps in helping with their preservation. I believe that there is a lot of beauty to be found in life if we just take the time to stop and look around. The first art piece I included is my Save The Bees watercolor poster. The second is a watercolor portrait I painted as a wedding gift. The third is a watercolor ink piece I did inspired by elements of space and the concept of dreams.

The summer following my high school graduation, my grandmother was killed in a terrible car crash. I had taken her to see a play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. On her way home after the play, she came to an intersection in which a man was fleeing from the cops in violation of his parol. He ran his truck into my grandmother’s car while going 100 miles per hour, sending them both into the side of a minute market nearby. My grandmother was killed instantly on impact. The man lived. This tragic event shook the very core of my family’s foundation. My grandmother was the main source of light in our family. She was fiercely passionate in her faith in Jesus Christ, and as such would put most of her energy into caring for others needs before considering her own. She was fun to be around and was always someone you could count on to listen to your troubles. Through out the years of working through the grieving process, it really hit home with me that life is precious and short. I began to fully realize that you’re only given a certain number of hours on this Earth and that I needed to pay more attention to how I was spending them. I started spending more time with my parents and doing activities that I actually enjoy doing. I’ve had a passion for creating ever since I was small child. My grandmother was always eager to support me in any of my creative endeavors. She would come to my high school art shows, gift me art supplies, and always wanted to see the latest projects I was working on. As a part of the sentencing process for the man who hit my grandmother, the residing judge had us submit written victim statements. A part of my statement included me describing how I felt like I wouldn’t be able to return to creating art after losing my grandma. During the sentencing in court, the judge addressed me directly telling me that she wanted me to continue to make my art and that she truly believed my grandma would want the same for me. This event has always stayed with me. As I began working my way through my grief, I also began dabbling in drawing and crafting again. In October of 2017, I found an online art challenge called Drawlloween in which you create a Halloween themed drawing every day of the month using a prompt list for inspiration. I decided to participate and quickly found my passion for art returning stronger than ever. I continued drawing and posting my art online. About three years ago, I began the process of starting my own small online shop to try selling my art pieces. I created stickers, art prints, jewelry, and polymer clay pieces and listed them in my shop. I also worked up to doing a couple of in person art markets in 2023. Neither my shop or the markets resulted in much success. I haven’t given up though. I love creating and I’m determined to keep making things that bring me joy. I know my grandmother would be proud to know that I’ve found my passion for creating again. I’ve always known that I’ve wanted to be able to be a working artist in the creative industry in some way or another. With my shop not taking off the way I had hoped, I have recently put a lot of thought into the next steps I might take towards achieving my goal. I decided that I would enroll in college to begin pursuing a degree in emerging media/digital art. I’m not entirely sure what specific art career I want to go for after I get my degree but I have a lot of ideas to consider. Some of these ideas are illustration, game design, concept art, storyboarding, and graphic design for companies that use fun elements for their products. I’m excited to see where the upcoming years will take me as an artist.

I would describe myself as being an avid player of video games. I have played a wide variety of games ever since I was a child. I would say that overall, video games have had a positive impact on my life emotionally, creatively, and socially. Through the wide variety of genres of video games available, there’s a good chance of finding one that will help with lower stress levels after a hard day of work. Playing more causal games such as Animal Crossing and Palia have helped me to relax many times in the past. Games such as these provide an open world that lets you do as much or as little game play as you want. I have loved decorating my housing plot, farming, and collecting fish, animals, and bugs in the casual life sims that I have played. Something about having a simple, repetitive task to complete really helps me to wind down after a busy day of working and doing chores. I have also found that video games often provide me with creative inspiration. As an artist, I often come up with ideas for my own creations by participating in viewership of other pieces of creative work. Video games are a result of a variety of artist forms coming together to create something bigger. The characters and worlds I have interacted with while playing video games have helped me to come up with ideas for drawing, painting, and sculpting numerous times. I have created both original and fan art pieces from the inspiration I have taken from video games. My love for video games is even a big part of why I am pursuing college. I’m planning on starting an associates program with a focus on art and then finishing a BA in emerging media/digital art. Some of my career ideas following getting my degree include game design, concept art, and story boarding. I wouldn’t have come up with these educational and career goals if not for my love of video games. Finally, video games have had a greatly positive impact on my social life. My brother has been an avid player of Minecraft since the game first came out when we were children. We don’t have a ton of activities that we both enjoy, but video games is one. We often play Minecraft together for hours at a time. I have also played video games with my father and his cousin. Playing games together has been a great way to socialize with my family in a group activity in which we’re all working together to have fun and accomplish the same goals. I have also built stronger connections with some of my friends through our shared passion of similar video games.

When I think of my recent works I’ve created, there is a particular favorite that instantly comes to mind. During the summer of 2023, a small clothing and accessories business in California called Classic Loot hosted a Sonny Angels and Sanrio themed art show to celebrate the store’s birthday. For my entry, I created a sculpture of a birthday cake with a Sonny Angel cherub and one of the dog characters from Sanrio hanging out on the cake. I hadn’t had a ton of previous experience with sculpting, so this piece was a bit of a challenge for me. I loved the process of going down the aisle at the craft store to figure out what supplies I might use for the piece. I selected a round wooden box to serve as the base for the sculpture. I covered the box in a whipped clay product that looked like frosting when it dried. I then piped on details to further add to the frosted cake look. I created strawberries, the Sonny Angel, and the dog out of clay. I added the finishing touches with acrylic paint. This piece is one of my most favorite creations for a few reasons. One of which being that I put a lot of hard work and energy into over coming the challenges that came along with creating it. I also learned new skills during the process, which is always an important part of growing as an artist.

Towards the end of the school year during my junior year of high school, my art teacher set up a table filled with art supplies that were up for grabs. These were supplies that had been used up enough that my teacher was going to replace them with new ones. I didn’t own a ton of my own supplies at the time, so I went over to the table to see what was available. I noticed that there were quite a few watercolor palettes that no one was taking interest in. I figured I might as well grab a couple and see if I could get in some water coloring practice. After taking the watercolor palettes, I began using the paints to experiment in my sketchbook. I quickly found that I enjoyed the process of layering paints to achieve different textures and color opacity. I quickly added watercolor paints to my go to arsenal of art supplies. During my senior year of high school, I created a portfolio of art for my AP Studio Art course work. I created many of these works using watercolors. After high school, I continued experimenting with watercolor painting. I found that through many hours of practice, watercolors became one of my favorite paints to use. I love that you can easily find good watercolor palettes that are budget friendly. I also like that you can easily travel with watercolors, as you don’t need to carry around a ton of solvents and mediums like you would with oil paints. The clean up process for watercolor painting is also a breeze. You simply run your brushes under water and you’re good to go. No need for scrubbing with heavy soaps and chemicals. Over the years, I have collected a wide variety of watercolor palettes, some of which even include metallic and glitter options. My overall career dream is to be a working artist in the creative field. I haven’t entirely narrowed down which creative job I want but some of the ideas I currently have include illustration, game design, concept art, storyboarding, and creation of art for companies that use fun elements in their packaging designs. To make steps towards this goal, I plan to start the associates of the arts transfer program with a focus in art at Rogue Community College this fall. The first of my watercolor samples is a poster design I created for an art contest hosted by Hollow Tree Honey Foundation. The prompt for the piece was “Save Our Bees”. The second watercolor piece was created as a wedding gift for my brother’s roommates. I used a photo of their’s for the reference.

Fantasy is a widely recommended genre on #BookTok, especially for those who are new to reading, or are looking to reignite their passion for books. There are many books that I have added to my “to be read” list thanks to recommendations on #BookTok. One series that tends to be in many #BookTok recommendation videos is The Cruel Prince trilogy by Holly Black. I have read this trilogy and count it among my top favorite series I’ve ever read. I often recommend the series to anyone who asks me for reading recommendations. The Cruel Prince trilogy is a fantastic choice for both readers who are new to the fantasy genre and well seasoned fantasy lovers. Black sets the story in the whimsically fantastic world of Elfhame, a world filled with a wide cast of diverse characters. Jude Duarte, our main character in the series, is a strong willed female lead who is not afraid to get her hands dirty to achieve her goals. The series is filled with tons of political intrigue, a complex cast of characters, glittering parties, devious schemes, and even some good old enemies to lovers romance. If you’ve spent any time consuming fantasy book content on #BookTok, then you know that the recommendations are often filled with many “spicy” fantasy books. Spice is how #BookTok often describes a book’s level of graphic sexual content. A particularly spicy book will include full descriptions of romance scenes of a sexual nature. The Cruel Prince trilogy is a great choice for any readers who struggle to find something to read from #BookTok recommendations if they are not interested in novels filled with a high level of spice, as there are no fully described sex scenes in the series. Another young adult fantasy series with elements of romance that often finds its way into #BookTok recommendations is the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi. This is another series that I have been influenced by #BookTok to check out. The Shatter Me series takes place in a post war dystopian future in which a group called The Reestablishment has placed great oppression on its citizens and follows a teenage girl named Juliette who struggles with having a touch that is lethal to anyone who comes in contact with her. Through out the series, Juliette learns that her touch may be more of a useful skill than she realizes. This series is also filled with political plot points, a diverse cast of characters, and enemies to lovers romance. Through viewing #BookTok reviews and recommendations, I have discovered numerous books to add to my TBR list that I hadn’t previously heard of. I have found that these recommendations have added more excitement to my reading. With #BookTok, I can always find a new book to check out if I am at a loss for what to read. Sometimes, I have found it hard to figure out if I will enjoy a book that I have come across. I have found it really helpful to be able to look up reviews from like minded readers on #BookTok. If you are looking for recommendations for your next reading book or are someone who hasn’t read much but would like to, I highly recommend checking out a few #BookTok videos for inspiration.