For quite a few years I was working for a large metropolitan newspaper as a graphic designer. It was a good job, but the box always seemed a bit small. I created banner ads and websites. Mostly ads. I'm glad I have a larger canvas now.
When I was a child, I always loved laying under the stars and watching for meteors. Talk about a big canvas. Now, every year I try to catch the Perseid Meteor Shower around August 11.
The evening of the meteor shower a couple of years ago, my four year old son, Ian, said he wanted to wish on a shooting star. I don't know where he got that idea. I don't remember mentioning it. I'm sure one of his great daycare teachers told him. He said, "We could wish for chickens."
When it got dark we laid down on a Mexican blanket in the back yard. It was too early to see any shooting stars, but he's too young to wait until 2:00 a.m. We laid there for about a half an hour and got eaten up by mosquitoes.
He said, "I'm going to wish for dragons. I want to ride on one." And, speaking of the all-knowing wisdom of the shooting star, he said, "If it says no, I'm going to wish for a farm."
We didn't see any shooting stars, but it was okay with us. Ian seems to be content with the prospect that some day he'll see a shooting star.
I'm a web designer. I bridge the worlds of creativity and commerce. I try to focus on the objective of the campaign, while at the same time emphasizing creativity and taste.
I try to tap into my subconscious mind in order to get ideas. It is all stuff I've seen and heard, filtered through the depths. I have to stay connected to the child in me to stay inspired.
My son, now six years old, says he wants to be an artist, like his daddy. He's really good. I often set up an easel and let him go wild. I'll post some of his stuff later. But now, hearing him say that, gives me an even greater responsibility to be a real artist; a living example.
Hopefully next year he'll want to be an astronaut or a doctor or something.
