All Good Things Must Come to an End

I loved this class.  Being relatively new to the program and not really sure of my skills I wasn't sure what to expect.  What I discovered is that I'm not too bad at rendering.  While there's lots of room for improvement, I was able to keep up with the class pretty well.  


When I was in 3rd grade my mother signed me up for art lessons.  I still have my original paintings; a still life or two and a horse.  I also took art in high school and have some of those projects; a perspective of the house I grew up in a and a Hawaiian sunset.  I also have some sketching I did my freshman year in college.  Other than that, I don't think I've ever really drawn since then which is too many years to count. 


What I discovered in this class is not only that I can do this but that I really love to do it.  Once of the reasons I left my job in corporate America is that I was craving doing something more creative but I didn't know what.  While I'm still unsure of the direction I want to go with design, I do like the creative process.  


Other skills I'm brining back to life are graphic design (sort of).  My first job out of graduate school was as a Marketing Manager for a small specialty food company.  With a marketing department of two I did lots of things I never would have done at a larger company.  My first day on the job I was sat in front of an Apple computer as asked to start designing.  Apple was pretty new back then and Microsoft Office didn't yet exist.  It was interesting.  In that job I went on to do some package design, all of our marketing sales sheets, oversaw photo shoots and designed our new trade show exhibit.  It was a great job but we were sold and I lost it.  I moved on to more mundane work and eventually computer work which I also liked.  However, here I am today realizing that these old skills are coming back to me.  Now with endless options in technology, learning about design, learning some principles of rendering and shading in different mediums, I have a lot of thinking to do on how I want to use all this.


Another thing I'm in the process of learning is who I am as a designer.  The process of putting together a portfolio is a challenge when you're not yet sure of the answer.  I'm sure as I move forward with my schooling and career, I'll continue to modify my portfolio style to better reflect my increased skills and understanding of what best represents me.


Finally, I've always thought about writing a blog but have never been sure how to do or what to write about.  Creating this blog has given me some confidence and food for thought on doing this.  I'm still not sure yet what I want to write about but at least I know now that I can.

Home Sweet Home

Although I've lived a number of places in the US, I've always considered Wyckoff, NJ home.  We moved there when I was 5 years old and my parents still live there . . .  well for a few more weeks anyway.  After 45 years, my parents will be leaving NJ and moving to MD into my sister's house.  While it's the right thing to do for many reasons, selfishly I wish they weren't.  Not because I don't want them to come to MD, but rather because Wyckoff will no longer be my home.  


Wyckoff is a small town in the NE corner of NJ about 20 miles outside of Manhattan.  Like most towns where I'm from, it has it's own government, schools, town services, etc.  It has a quaint downtown area where many of the old homes have been turned into businesses.  It also has a railroad that runs through it.  While it no longer has passenger service it still has freight trains come slowly through a few times a week.  


So what does any of this have to do with this blog? As I won't be going to Wyckoff anymore, on my trip there last week I took many pictures of town for my scrapbook.  The old train depot pictured below is a town landmark.  

The Victorian stick-style station was first built in 1870.  In 1966 when passenger service stopped, the Parent Teacher Organization in town has leased it and it became "The Economy Shop", a small consignment shop whose sales go to support the local PTO and to maintain the depot.  It remains one of a handful of these stations that have retained their architectural integrity.


The Wyckoff train depot represents my childhood and although I won't have my home in Wyckoff anymore, perhaps one day I'll live there again.  If not, I'll always have my pictures and great memories.