My first semester in college as an art major, I took a class called 2D Design where my professor, David West, took the class time one day to let us sit and go through his sketchbooks. While this was a simple thing that I don’t really think he thought much about, it changed so much for me and who I am as an artist today.

Getting to go through sketchbook after sketchbook that he bound and made himself, my jaw was on the floor, as it was almost as though I was getting to look at little pictures of his life, his day to day, in a way that a photo couldn’t capture. There were so many. All full of different things: homes and buildings, his children, breakfast, landscapes, nature, strangers, and so much more.

This really did light a fire in me as an artist. I went out and bought a sketchbook as fast as I could, and just began to draw any and everything around me. My love of art and just of the world around me grew so much, and I really am just so grateful for that one class day where my professor felt the need to show us what everyday life looks like in the eyes of an artist.