I think one of the best experiences I had when I was in my mid-twenties was visiting an artist’s studio. I received my college degree in mathematics, and was an actuary at a health insurance company. I always felt like art was kind of at the opposite end of the educational and career spectrum. But I had also been told throughout my life that I was quite creative. I was introduced to someone through a friend who was a professional designer. The artist, named David, told me that he often worked with architects and structural designers to create original indoor and outdoor sculptures. I was fascinated, and asked him to take me to his sculpture studio.
In David’s sculpture studio, there were a lot of great sculptures, and quite a few also unfinished. He had an entire collection of sculpted dragons, modeled after Chinese dragons, that I enjoyed. When I was about to leave, David gave me one of the smaller dragons and asked me to paint it for him! I spent a lot of time on it, using several different varieties of colored clay, and when I returned to the sculpture studio, David said he loved it! I continue to paint for him now and then to this day, and it’s such a fun activity.