I grew up surrounded by art. I had family that were art teachers, artists, designers, and painters. My first masterpiece was when I was five. I had an aunt that was in art school. I got into her oil paints and painted purple fish on everything in her room. There were purple fish on her pillows, the walls, the shoes in her closet, even the light switch. I then began to paint my brother. If you ask me, it was an improvement. After I finished cleaning up, as best as a 5 year old could, it seems like art was my thing. My parents thought it was a good idea to buy me my very own set of paints and canvasses because getting the purple paint off of my brother took several baths. I then spent the next years of my life growing my skill-set, appreciating good design, and making myself a better designer through a university education and professional work in the field for over ten years and running a design business of my own for a number of years as well. I have learned that design changes and grows daily so if you become complacent, you get left behind. But more than that, sometimes you just have to paint some purple fish to light that creative fire that seeds the next chapter in life.