THE WORKSHOP

The Workshop was a mentorship program offered through DPS by my former mentor, Hardy Fowler, and led by fellow mentee Randy Ruedisueli—an incredible, well-rounded artist with industry experience. Smaller in scale than the full mentorship program, the Workshop was designed to guide aspiring artists through a series of creative projects aimed at honing our skills. It provided a structured learning environment with assignments, challenges, and valuable feedback to push creativity and technique.

Sadly, the Workshop only lasted a few months. It was a fantastic idea with the potential to grow into something even greater. Despite its short run, the Workshop brought about something invaluable—strong friendships that I’ve maintained and cherish to this day.

Below, you’ll find the projects I completed during my time in the Workshop. You may notice some odd tags I’ve added to the images: Completed. Not submitted. Finished after the workshop. For fun. The reason? Not all of these projects were submitted alongside everyone else’s. Some I completed while the Workshop was still in session, others I finished and yet never shared for one reason or another. Some were revisited after the program or made just for fun because I wanted to take a concept or project further.

No one knew at the time, but I was struggling with depression while the Workshop was ongoing. Badly. That, on top of a demanding night shift, made it challenging to stay focused and keep pace with the rest of the group. I often only had time to share my initial sketches or ideas, whereas everyone had whole sheets of designs filled out. By the time I completed a page to the same level, the group was already moving on to the next project. I didn’t bother sharing what I’d worked on, no matter the level of completeness, believing it was too late to matter.

Those are the lies my head and my emotions were telling me. I was shy, I was depressed, and I often felt as though I’d missed my opportunity to share my work or receive meaningful feedback without disrupting things. I wasn’t good about reaching out. I was unable to shake the feeling that I’d let down my peers, my instructor, and myself. They never made me feel that way. They were honestly the only good part of my day sometimes. But even when the Workshop ended, I could never bring myself to share any of these.

It’s hard to look back on things you feel you failed. It’s difficult to share those things proudly, to have people comment on them, critique them, compliment them. It’s taken me a long time to come to terms with things. To understand the struggles I was going through were altering my perception of things. That is the way I was feeling, and have been feeling about a lot of things, colored the way I viewed a lot of these projects and my art in general.

Now, while curating what pieces to include in my portfolio, I am happy to realize I no longer see them as failures. Those feelings were shaped by depression, not truth. These works, whether finished or not, represent my growth as an artist. They’re challenges I overcame. They’re moments I had with my friends. They’re memories and stepping stones to becoming who I am now. And I am more settled and at ease than I’ve been in a long time.

I’m so glad I joined the Workshop, even if it was a struggle at the time. The lessons I learned helped me grow more than I think I realized and the people I met made a lasting impact. Seeing the work now, all compiled like this? It shows me how much I actually achieved. And looking back, I think the Workshop may have gotten me through the real struggle by giving me an outlet and companionship. For that, I’m even more grateful.