Creativity is and has always been a big part of both my personal and professional life. I am working in the most wonderful job one can imagine: I’m an Early Years Educator/German Teacher working in an international school. I love to watch the development of my students, to help them grow and simply give them all the love that I have. There is room for a lot of creativity in all areas.
In my private life I look for ways to express creativity and growth as well. A secret dream of mine has always been having a degree in Graphic Design, as it is one of the most versatile and interesting professions. I had never striven for that path because I was of the opinion I can’t draw so I’m not talented enough.
Instead of that I became a teacher and spent my spare time with things like crafting, knitting, crocheting, etc. Later on I got more and more familiar with PCs. I started to discover vector programs and created my first pictures there. I still remember the first application I used was called „Graphic“. With the „Affinity Suite“ a whole new world opened up for me.
From then on, my hobby was to help my husband with his iOS App development. I was responsible for all the graphic elements, UI/UX for his applications. I designed logos, icons, etc. and realized that I have talent in that area. I started to help a friend of ours with designing his website, I wrote flyers, and designed posters/pictures/greeting cards for him to share – just for fun and because it was interesting. When our friend started a new business, I took over the part of branding his company and everything that goes with it, designing both virtual and printable items, advertisement – basically the corporate design of his business.
I ended up making my secret dream come true by studying graphic design via distance learning while working full time. Drawing is, of course, a big part of it so I was forced to put some more practice in physically using real pens and paper to create artwork. Although my grades in drawing and illustrating showed my progress I still thought, „I can’t do it, I’m not talented.“
And then 2020 happened with all its craziness. Lockdown forced us to stay home, to slow down and to protect ourselves and others. To make the best out of this madness I looked for even more ways to grow and learn new things. I was always a big fan of online courses so I was thrilled about so many companies offering special prices for workshops, software, and so on.
This was when I discovered the digital way of drawing and illustrating. I got an iPad, an Apple Pencil, and Procreate and things were speeding up like an avalanche. I started to participate in drawing challenges such as „Making Art Everyday“ by Lisa Bardot of BardotBrush. I practice drawing now day by day and see so many improvements. I take courses on Skillshare on an almost daily basis and am learning so much about unlocking creativity and the most important lesson of all: No Van Gogh fell from the sky – every artist has to practice and work for success.
And that’s what I do now, what you can see here. Of course, with every bit of growth, dreams get bigger, as well, right? What if I became an author and illustrator of picture books? What if…?
Let’s see what the future has in mind for us!
