Allison Pre-Lyme Academy

   This section is some background history of myself before I went to Lyme Academy. It gets more personal towards the end though, so I've included a short version before hand.

    I was normally "okay" at art in middle school. My mom made a lot of paintings so I was semi-interested. My best friend at the time already drew cartoons and was really great (in my opinion) at drawing characters from our favorite TV show Teen Titans. I would record the show on tape, pause it , and draw the characters from the screen. I  then went to Norwich Free Academy and didn't know I wanted to do art until my last semester of my junior year. Better late than never, because I'm here now doing things I love.  I wonder what would have happened to me if I hadn't taken that intro to drawing class my junior year. I could have been a biologist. I loved biology, science, things like that. I have a bad taste in my mouth from chemistry (not literally)  Bad teacher, its a long story.

If you want a short version of my Pre-Lyme history read this next part. If you want the dinner and dessert of my back story skip this :

    I went to Norwich Free Academy[ 2007-2011], started my interest in art my last semester of my Junior year. I went to Three Rivers Community College, went into a depression then I met Cody and my life turned around. Then graduated with an Associates degree in Visual Fine Arts [2011-2013]. Now I'm going to Lyme Academy to finish what I thought I didn't need to do, but now I want to. (Finish my BFA)

Long Story:
   My senior year in high school was mostly art classes. I enjoyed it a lot, and I learned so much. I also had the hardest time in my first studio class. I misunderstood the assignment. We were drawing bikes. My teacher had told me we could make it into anything. I didn't know we could make it into a painting or an abstract piece. I drew the gearbox into a mechanical wing for a demon like creature sitting in a canyon...I quickly learned what he meant during critique.

Here are some works from my Senior year in high school:

[2011]

As you can see I had a theme of rustic/industrial/steam-punk going on

   My Three Rivers Community College experience felt like a pause in my path towards my career. I was doing assignments, but I felt like I focused more on my art grades and just getting the work done instead of carefully planning my compositions. I suffered in my academic classes, I'm paying for that now (literally). I should have focused more on my academic grades rather than rushing my work and not studying. I honestly didn't think I would continue my education after TRCC. I figured I'd have an associates degree... why bother go on. I was depressed during most of my college experience. All I wanted was to graduate and stop going to school. I had gathered fake happiness for a few months at a time. Then everything would whip back at me and I hated it.
 
    I went to Three Rivers for two and a half years. In my second year there, 2012 around August/September I had met Cody. We were both in Three Dimensional Design, a class of crafts and bizarre sculptures. It wasn't until October til we went on our first date. I wasn't sure how things were going to work out because my past relationships turned into train wrecks. I was afraid to be in a relationship. I gave him a chance though, and we ended up going on a second date. Now, here we are 2 years later and still swooning for each other. 

   
    My look on my career changed because of Cody, I wanted to continue my education after Three Rivers, I was more focused on my art, I was so much happier. A weight of 4 years of pain had lifted off my shoulders. Even though what was about to get thrown into my life was equally as bad or worse ,  with out him I'd probably have sunk into a depression that I couldn't even pull my self out of because of it. My family fell apart and It holds together by threads. Each month someone comes by and snips the threads one by one. Cody is like the duct tape that keeps me from falling apart.

    Alright, so my Community College experience was a shit storm. Here was what I had produced in those wonky years:

 [2011-2013]

    Do well in school, It really is worth it. You will regret it if you don't try. I'm paying $$$ for a class that had cost me 200 bucks before.

-Allison

"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home." -Twyla Tharp