“An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one.”

My first time displaying my artwork other than photography was this past summer at The Percolator. That green and brown block is a garden chess set which took longer to make than expected (closer pics of the set below). 

With the vast and rapid advancements of technology, both sharing your artwork with the world and discovering other artists is a matter a few clicks. The downside to this is that sometimes your talent gets lost in a sea of thousands of other artists. And it’s not that your work isn’t “original” enough or that it’s not worth looking at; it’s simply that there are just so many things to look at online and not enough time to discover every single talented person out there.

So what’s the solution? (Read more below)

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."

The other day, I took out this “giant word puzzle explosion” book that was given to me when I was about 11 or 12. I can’t believe that I still have it after all these years or that I remember who it was that gave it to me.

It was so long ago and I don't remember her name, but I know she was this blond woman who worked for Phelps Dodge (we went on a tour of her workplace). Most importantly, I remember that she was my very kind assigned mentor. We lost touch when I moved on to middle school and she moved to another state, but she still made a positive influence in my life.

Mentors really do change lives...

By now we’ve all learned that not all adults are kind, open-minded or supportive of our dreams. But after having a mentor, I learned that adults can be very encouraging, thoughtful and loving, even if they aren’t related to you.

I won’t say that having a mentor makes every bad thing in your life go away, but I am saying this: when you grow up with positive enforcement in your life, you learn that you can take control of it and do great things. It is because of the mentors in my life (including my family) that I joined band, choir, Upward Bound (a great program which I will discuss in another post) and graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree.

Bob Dylan once said, “A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.” For me, this means that we should try to help others for the good of the world when we have the freedom to do so. You don’t have to be rich, extremely smart or have your life all figured out in order to donate your time to someone in need of a friend. It just takes empathy, enthusiasm and the will to make positive and responsible decisions.

The way I see it; everyone is inevitably impacted by their surroundings including the people in them. So why not join a group that ensures that many children will be left with a good impact? (click "Read More" below)