Best Fishes and The Journey

I started working on my second bachelor's degree (in art studio) in spring of 1998. I had planned to take one class a semester (spring and fall) and had hoped to finish up in 7 years or so. It ended up being the "or so". There were a few semesters where I felt so burnt out that I had to take it off in order to survive. But, wait! I didn't reveal how it is that I decided to do a 2nd bachelor's degree. One of the wonderful benefits of working at university is something called, "tuition remission". Fancy word for free tuition, really. Although, if there are special fees or lab fees, you pay for those out of your pocket. Having worked at California State University, Northridge for about 6 years and NEVER taking advantage of the tuition remission package there, I vowed that I would not let that benefit go unsed the second time around. So, then, the next question is, "what degree should I declare?". It would seem logical to pursue a master's degree since I already had a bachelor's degree. Looked through all the programs and nothing felt inspirational. Especially since most grad classes are at night and the commute and late hours was not something I could withstand. Hmmmm...look at those art classes. I ALWAYS wanted to take art classes but never had the time. Did I dare to declare THAT as a major? I took a deep breath and dove in. My first class was Drawing I. One of my teacher's mantras was about how important the process was, not so much the outcome (I think that was her way of consoling those of us who were far from being masters of drawing). It's all about the process. An important lesson for any artist (or, human being, for that matter). So, what's this got to do with the fish image here, you ask? Well, it's been tinkered with by yours truly in Photoshop. When I started doing manipulations in Photoshop, I thought I would record what I did in case anyone asked me how I achieved that look. That lasted for about 3 images. I've totally abandoned that. Too tedious, too much work and it interferes with my process. I'm not sure how I " got there" with this image. Not important, though. It was a journey. I took a few pathways to get there and I got there. Today's car tunes: Marc Anthony, "Exitos". Lucky Jay Lo!