Serendipity
Merriam-Webster dictionary
Definition of serendipity
: the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for
also : an instance of this
the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
I studied painting, not graphic design.
I assumed that one day someone would just want a nice pretty painting of a flower or maybe perhaps a portrait.
As I started to look back at my artwork under the subject, publications, I realize that many of these assignments are various and random. The projects ranged from computer art to photography. These unplanned opportunities came in assorted ways. A networking convention, a “can you do me a favor?” scenario, or a stranger viewing my work and has shown interested to publish my work. My goodness. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I will be involved in “Publishing”! I paint pretty pictures and I enjoy the process, but never did I imagine that my skills would be needed as a graphic designer. Then I thought about one of my favorite professors in college name Morton Kaish who was known as Professor Kaish. He always wore a tie, dress shirt, slacks, sometimes a shiny shoes with a white pressed smock. Always professional. He spoke with a monotone voice. His presence was calm and easy going. I am known to give people whom I’m fond of nicknames. Therefore, I code named him, Papa Kaish because he has this way of story telling that was smooth, comforting and reassuring whether the topic of discussion were art techniques or the art industry. As if he was telling you a bedtime story. I don’t know how all or most of my classmates felt at the time, but you could’ve either fell asleep, zone out or pay close attention. And if you paid attention to his stories, guess what?, He had real knowledge to share “to spit out!” You either caught the message for that moment or you missed out!
I chose to listen very carefully. One of his favorite words was serendipity. He would remind us to look out for it, he would encourage us to embrace it. Sometimes I understood it when it came to art techniques, but I really began to understand the term more during my career as an artist. Believe me, If I haven’t embraced the wonderful serendipity of unusual opportunities, I wouldn’t even have a category called publications. I Consider them blessings and maybe one day someone will ask me to paint a pretty picture of a flower as well. For right now, I’ll just continue to embrace serendipity by following God‘s blessings and see where it takes me next!
"A fortunate stroke of serendipity"
