This is about my third week into another semester of school here at Brigham Young University Idaho. It's my second semester as an actual art major. For years I have loved creating things with my hands, whether through carving, sculpting or bending wire to make something new out of raw materials. It has been an interesting journey getting to this point. I took a year of construction management classes before I made the switch to art. I learned a lot during that time. I learned that math is not my skill. Let me expound on that.

After my mission for my church, I could barely remember how to count on my fingers. I had to take two years of math courses just to get me up to college level. When I was studying construction, I took two other higher math classes; trigonometry, and a class called "statics". I worked hard in trig. I slaved away at the tutor center on campus trying so hard to understand that stuff. It was only because of the grace of God and having turned in all of my homework that I passed that class. On the final, I wrote a little note in the margin of the incomprehensible test I had blundered through, pleading for mercy from my professor. Mormons really are Christians. I know it, because that man let me pass his class. 

Statics was the class that nearly made me change majors. I say nearly because at the time I thought to my self "if I don't pass this class, I'm not going to take it over again. I will change majors." Somehow I made it through though. But I can't remember a single thing I learned, except that I'm not made for it. After struggling through those courses I think something actually broke inside my brain. Whatever feeble cells were functioning to get me through it all must have finally exploded from the strain. 

Soooo...now here I am. There were a few other significant events that have taken place since then and now. Lots of praying. Tons of blundering. Breaking down and building back up. I would like to say that I have finally "arrived", as though I could say I have reached "the place" and my journey is now over. But if the journey were over I would be dead. Life keeps moving me and there is a whole world open I have not reached yet, as is true of all of us. For now, I feel that I am on the right path. And now, here are some things I've been working on:

For the past seven or so months I have been working on sculpting realistic heads. I've seen a great deal of growth in myself and keep learning each time I go into the sculpture studio. A few weeks ago our teacher brought in a your Nigerian guy to model for us. He was dressed in some traditional Nigerian clothes and had a bright countenance. Our assignment was to get down the basic structure of his head and face in two hours, and than put our own interpretation into the piece. Here is how he ended up at first: 

And this is the final piece. I changed a lot about him and worked on getting the anatomy right and finishing the piece by adding a base. It was fun and stretched me quite a bit.