Sketchs for a site design Getting a fine arts degree from college game me a great foundation of skills to use in my creative process. I keep these skills fresh by continuing to use them in my professional and personal work. When working on a site design I will usually start by sketching my ideas out. I then take these sketches and refine them in the appropriate software application.

In my personal life I continue to draw, blow glass, and take artistic photographs. I also do many other things that keep my eyes and my mind open to other creative elements, like going to museums, looking at what other designers/artist are doing, etc...

A few of my personal pieces

Glass Blowing

Drawing

Photography

Sculpture

Conclusion

While I greatly enjoy creating art, it is the process that is important. This keeps my mind sharp and spills over into everything that I do, allowing me to think outside the box and come up with original solutions.

Having the artistic background also makes for a great dynamic when converting a design into an application. Either working with my own design or another artists work, I can see solutions where other developers might see roadblocks.