I think outside of the box. As an artist, this can be a valuable skill, but it is just as important when it comes to parenting. 

My son happens to have a developmental disability, and it’s been his dream to work for an organization like the DNR or the Forest Service. 

He worked in at least three restaurants as a dishwasher/busser, and no one could figure out how to get him into the field that he really wanted to pursue. 

In our free time, we often take our fishing boat out. We started seeing inspectors at boat landings, checking equipment for invasive hitchhikers. We agreed that that would be a good job for Raymond. Not long after that conversation, I saw a local job posting for that position, and applied. I didn’t think I would get the job. When they called me back, I told them I couldn’t take the job because my son needed me. I told them that I actually applied for him. He doesn’t have a driver’s license, which is a requirement for the job. They said they would hire him too! 

Now Raymond and I work together monitoring our lakes and rivers for invasive species. We have both learned a lot, and now are able to help educate other people about our important and delicate ecosystem. At the same time, we get to do what we love, spending time together outdoors with a purpose.

Checking and cleaning equipment, draining lake water from boats and tanks is crucial to protecting the delicate balance in our waterways.

It’s not too late.

Over 90% of our lakes in Cook County are not infested!  We can not eradicate invasive species, but we can all work together to slow their spread. 

Lakes with spiny water fleas show fewer numbers of native game fish like walleyes, and those are of smaller size.

We can’t just throw our hands into the air and give up.

Learn how to check your boat, canoe, kayak and other equipment, and then take a few minutes to check it every time you enter or exit a lake. 

You can see more of my photography at http://timeong.blogspot.com

From the time I started elementary school, my teachers recognized that I was creative. I have those early report cards. They wanted me to focus on other areas of study, but I only wanted to do art. This tells me that I wasn’t making art to please anyone else. I did it because I loved it, and I’ve never stopped. I think this is a key to expanding ones creative mind and abilities.

I really wanted my drawings and paintings to look like objects in the physical world. That is not my goal anymore, though there is a place for it. It took me a long time to discover my artistic voice. I realized that paint colors don’t have to match the world around me, and objects in my paintings don’t have to obey the rules that govern tangible objects or beings. Having said that, I want my symbolism to be in there. Not necessarily easy, but present, and satisfying to me.

The opinions of other people are important because I am a communicator. Not all critiques are helpful.  Not everyone will understand my intent. I am often intentionally cryptic, and not all of my attempts are successful.

I was criticized by the faculty in art school for spelling everything out, and leaving nothing for the viewer to discover or interpret. I think the pendulum has swung to the other side now. They were right. I couldn’t see it then. I couldn’t understand that my approach was like those “other areas of study” and abstract art was like me as an unencumbered and passionate first grade artist.

I try to keep other people’s opinions out of my creative practice and make art that is authentically mine. When someone later connects with it or comments on it, the personal satisfaction is that much greater.

No one is grading me. There is no assignment. I didn’t decide to take this path. I just did what I loved to do. Inspiration didn’t come in a flash. No lightbulb appeared over my head. I just lived each day. I used my senses to navigate and understand the world around me. I found things I enjoyed, and things to avoid. Each one of these things made me the person that I am, with my own strengths and challenges. One of the things I enjoyed very much was creating art.

I didn’t discover my talent. It came naturally, and then I worked at it. I still practice it. I’m still surprised, and still learning to let go.

What creative individuals do I admire? All of them.

145 bottles of champagne were found in the wreckage in the Åland archipelago off the coast of Finland, and after 170 years, it was determined to be the oldest drinkable champagne in the world.

A member of Veuve Clicquot’s winemaking team described the champagne as “a toasted, zesty nose with hints of coffee, and a very agreeable taste with accents of flowers and lime-tree. (from wikipedia)