It has been many years since I considered myself any kind of artist. I still create art, as most people do, but I would no longer call myself an artist, and I do not identify with that group. I will always hold strong sympathies towards artists, however.

There was a period in my life when I was certain that I would become a professional artist. That time is long past, and I have realized that I am far more adept in the field of electron-wrangling. My life has improved dramatically since I began self-identifying as a nerd, instead of an artist.

I am now an IT professional, and the only art pieces I produce are digital photographs, LEGO constructions, the occasional carefully-tuned Facebook status, and free-form whistled jingles. That is, unless you consider a delicately-crafted network topology a piece of art.

Instead of taking the art-as-profession route, I ended up internalizing what I saw and learned about aesthetics, then instinctively applying it to everything I can in life. I feel that the greatest usefulness in artistry for me is not in discrete "arts" that exist solely for the purpose of being observed and appreciated; it lies instead in the extra touch of balance and beauty that I strive to put into everything I do.

I compose emails that read like poetry, I arrange cable routing that accounts for attractive composition, and in both hardware and software, I push myself to achieve a simplicity and elegance in everything I build.

DA, you have failed me in my development as an artist; but you were instrumental in my development as a human being.

Now, all that being said: I am thoroughly embarrassed by some of the "art" that I left festering in my gallery at this place. Every time I revisit my profile, I have to resist the intense desire to erase my entire portfolio.

Anyone viewing any of my deviations, please take note that not one of them was uploaded by the person that I currently consider to be me. The only reason I desist from destroying the whole gallery is my suspicion that within a few years, I will surely regret doing so.

I may one day return here to post the results of a renewed hobby in the arts. In the mean time, I preserve this profile exactly as it has been for years, in the interest of maintaining my own personal historical record.