amongst the pages of art in my sketchbook. I never really had the courage to try to major in what I saw as an incredibly competitive field, but I did begin to look for a field of study I enjoyed more.

After transferring to Salisbury University, I discovered New Media. Video editing seemed perfect for me. To create stories and tell them through video, using technology to create the imagery and feel that I wanted made me so excited, and happy. With 3D modeling, I got to reconnect with my old two dimensional friends again.

For me, the characters I create are extensions of how I perceive myself. From the imaginary friends we have as children to the characters that animators and authors create as adults, the characters people dream up often reflect aspects of their creator’s personalities and dreams. After I have created a new character, I usually take time to get to know them; what are they like? Interests? Personality? How might they respond in daily conversation? I have gotten some strange looks in the past when, forgetting where I was, I began to talk to a character to find out about them. From one character’s shyness reflecting my own, to another character’s brave and adventurous spirit showing who I want to be, each character reflects aspects of who I am and who I wish I was. Even the characters created to create conflict; the villains and the ne’er-do-well’s of my stories reflect me as a person as well. My bad aspects and habits are reflected and exaggerated in these characters, and alongside my “good” characters they all force me to take a look at myself in my truest form. Even if my truest forms seem to be dragons and aliens and small forest animals. For this animation, I got to take a journey with my characters from the moment I thought them up to the moment I held them in my hands through 3D printing. Seeing them move and dance on screen has been amazing; it is like my childhood fantasies about meeting my characters have come true, and I can’t wait to do more.