dp design

Awww, you were so beautiful birdie…

For most of my adult years I wanted to own or run a gallery. There is something to be said about the power of manifestation and just the sheer idea of perseverance, more on that in a minute. What I have come to realize is that so many of us give up on our dreams or ideas before we see them through to full fruition. A friend and I discussed the concept of perseverance the other day. He just started school again, to change his career direction to what he was always meant to be: an artist. He has been in school before and has had other careers, but has always been an artist. Not just any kind of artist, but a damn good one. I feel like a little kid playing with crayons next to this guy!

    Man Made                                 15×40                  oil on canvas                     by Scott Roper

Scott painted this piece years ago, before he went to art school! And the picture does not do it justice, you miss all the detail. I once photographed his portfolio and recall when I reached down to move his art to eliminate a shadow and had a stupid  moment of realizing it was a flat drawing, and the shadow I was trying to get rid of was one he drew. I cannot even imagine how he is now topping his already crazy talent.

But I digress…

I came very close to giving up on my dreams and going back into the miserable retail career I once had. Why? Because retail for me paid well, did not require any formal education and was safe. Instead, I spent 6 years living in my friend’s basement, went completely bankrupt and then attended school to switch my career. This was during a time when some of my friends and others my age were discussing financial portfolios, which retirement plan they were investing in, and how much money they had started to put aside for their children’s education. For me however, it sometimes felt like a dark time.

When people talk about what kind of “crazy life choice” or the “should or should not” or the “must” that you have to do in life, ignore them. It is very easy to get caught up in other peoples plans for your life. Disregard other peoples beliefs, dogmas, manifestos, or rules that they believe you should follow. Follow your own path and your own dreams, it is your life. Let go of what others think of you, it is none of your business. Great freedom comes from letting go of the worry of other’s thoughts about you.

It is important to surround yourself with people who believe in you, who encourage you and who also believe in your dreams…and it helps when those people believe in your dreams more than you do, because you will have times when you loose faith in them. It is about perseverance.

Here is a picture of THE Gallery, it is being renamed to CURIO this month. My brother Ken and I worked very hard getting this abandoned/vacant (and not exactly empty!!) space cleaned up  to become a gallery. We opened the gallery on June 21st with a solo show of Ken’s art work (seen below) which has never been publicly shown. Before I moved to Minneapolis, Ken and I spoke often about how we wanted a gallery or a little shop of our artworks. I love that dreams can be created into reality if we persevere.

I was asked to design a menu for a local restaurant here in the twin cities. They wanted a vintagey (Spell check says this is not a word, but it is in my vocabulary!) and playful look to their menu. I love clients like this, they allow me to just go and trust that I can create something with their vision. These were the kind of projects I always vied for in school, fun project!

I am so incredibly grateful that being a designer has treated me so well!!