Introduction - Joanna Lee

Hi! My name is Joanna Lee, and I'm a freshman majoring in fine arts with an emphasis in design and drawing. I've been taking art classes since I was a little girl, but I didn't officially decide to pursue it until I was a junior in high school. I have always immersed myself in the art world because my mom was always painting landscapes with her oil paints, and I'd always intently watch and admire her. I strongly believe that art isn't limited to only the studio, which is why I was involved in various art-related activities outside of my studio. I taught art to disabled children with autism in an organization called AMASE (it was also a volunteer program for teaching music too, so I volunteered for both teaching art and teaching the viola.) I also interned at Montalvo Arts Center as a summer camp director for arts camps for little kids.

A lot of my work is based off of things that I encounter in life. In terms of medium, most of my work was centered on fine art and lots of computer art, with a little touch of design, so I wanted to really learn how to incorporate design into my creations as well. That's exactly why I was really excited to take Design Fundamentals, and I really believe that I learned a lot of valuable information not only to apply to my art, but also to my work ethic in general. Although I struggled a lot with precision, I am ultimately really glad that I learned to be more patient with my artwork. Stepping into the realm of design really helped me have a different scope on what art can encompass. Things that I hadn't considered before this class were revealed more clearly to me (the principles of design, primarily. Although I had learned about them before, I didn't fully comprehend all of the terms until I put them into practice through the projects that we completed in the class.

In the future, I definitely see myself being in a career related to art. Whether that means I'll be a designer or not, I believe that the class has taught me lots of valuable life skills such as persistence, patience, and an open mind.