Time Time Time (2002) Painting by Karin French

All through my childhood, I thought that I was going to be a marine biologist, a veterinarian, or if those fell through, She-ra, Princess of Power. I would never have predicted myself pursuing the arts. But, I guess there’s no way to really know where life will lead us. Either you can fight fate or you can jump on the roller coaster, throw up your hands, and enjoy the ride.
I was born in Moosejaw Sask. in 1978 and then proceeded to move all over the country before finally settling in Calgary in 1990. My father was a pilot and was away a lot, so in order to keep me occupied and out from under foot, my mother presented me with a never ending stream of crafts and art projects. I ate them up, and by the time I reached high school, it was my full-fledged hobby. But, as everyone knows, you can’t make a living from a hobby, so it never even occurred to me to pursue it farther. That is, until it became vastly apparent that my plan to go into science had a little flaw; my mathematic and science skills leave something to be desired.
Try as I might, I began failing the core courses that were necessary for my career choice. It got to the point where my high school student councilor, Barry Mudry, pulled me into the office and gently suggested that I chose another career path. Well, I had no idea what that could be, whatsoever. I had never even thought about it, but apparently he had. I had done some doodles in one of my math textbooks (which I consequently had to replace for the school, but I digress…) and he had gotten a hold of it. He asked me if I liked to draw and I said “Of course, but it’s just a hobby”. He didn’t think so.
He suggested to me that maybe I should pull out of the math and science courses that I was failing miserably and replace them with art courses. I was skeptical and I knew my parents wouldn’t be happy, but he continued on to suggest that I should consider going to Art College and eventually pursue a career in art. To my self I was thinking “An art career? That’s like saying ‘jumbo shrimp’ or ‘Canadian military’”. But I really couldn’t think of anything better to do so I figured what the hell.
It turned out to be the best and most logical decision I ever made. I excelled in my classes and ended up being the teacher’s aid in my grade twelve year (and my parents were in full support of my decision, by the way). And sure enough, I went to art school.
Unfortunately, when I did this I was seventeen and couldn’t find my ass with both hands. I wasn’t prepared for the sheer workload involved with Art College and ended up failing quite miserably. I ended up dropping out after three-quarters of my first year amidst a slew of Ds and Fs. Once again I had to reinvent myself. After three months of aesthetician school, I realized that I couldn’t feasibly live or work in a world without art. At that time I was friends with an artist who had also dropped out of college and was pursuing his own art career; in tattooing. The light bulb went...

• Nationality: CANADA
• Date of birth : 1978
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary Canadian Artists