Why Art?

[Kitsune]

As early as I remember I loved to draw. I picked up a pencil when I was a couple of years old and drew stick horses in a vain attempt to copy the horse logo on a pad of paper I found in my parents' living room.

In my culture being an artist, or aspiring to be one, is not seen as a mark of success, especially when your parents are doctors and you're expected to take the same road. It was very difficult, especially when you also love to learn and have a bunch of other passions you like to pursue. In the past, being a person of varied interests and talents was a strength, but I found it tended to distract me from a single focus. So I spent a while away from an art education after an initial foray into it discouraged me (my country does not have very good instruction and poor funding for its schools). I liked biology as a student and reading such things as nutrition as well as writing but in the end I realized I was happiest creating things. I feel my skills in art have yet to catch up with the rest of my life, but people live a long time. There is no reason on earth that you cannot pursue everything that you love (apart from disability), so long as you spend the time that you have wisely.