"Making art is fun and, if it isn't fun, it isn't worth doing".
On my deathbed I shall have few regrets. I am determined to accomplish my artistic dream. Now at age 55, my goal is to complete my Associates at Mesa Community College and to transfer to Arizona State University to achieve a Bachelors degree in the Digital Culture program on the Art & Design track at the Herberger Institute. I'll be near 60 when I graduate. Many criticize this endeavor, asking who will hire a graphic designer at that age. My response is simple; I am happy.
I have always loved the visual arts. As a child & in my teens, I worked in my Mom's ceramic studio, pouring molds & cleaning greenware. In exchange, Mom would let me"make" something. I liked to work with glazes, using different mixtures on one piece (against Mom's recommendation) to see what effects I could achieve - sometimes with unexpected results. (I know I ruined more than one shelf in the kiln - sorry Mom.) When I was 13 years old my grandmother gave me an old Polaroid camera. I figured out how to make very believable double exposures of one person into two and would show my pictures to friends and family claiming that these people had twins who had in some way disappeared. In High School, although I was a business major, I used all of my elective courses to take art classes. After that, I attended a local art school enrolling in the Fine-Arts Core Program. I never completed the program, instead later using the credits along with business courses I took to obtain an Associates degree in Individual Studies at a nearby community college. I spent the next 30 years working in the banking/brokerage industry. I'd like to say that I was completely miserable during that time but that would not be totally true. There were highs and lows with that career, as well as in my personal life, and I learned a lot about finance (and Wall Street). During that this period, I considered my art and photography as a hobby I could retreat to for comfort. I was even a docent for the firm's corporate art collection (which was one of the largest private collections in the Southeast) and volunteered for many corporate sponsored art events. In 2011 I came to a crossroads in my life. I relocated to Arizona to be nearer to my family. I was living with my brother in early 2012 when he suddenly and with out warning decided to take his own life. I spent weeks paralyzed and depressed by the guilt and trauma. I soon after accepted an entry level position at a call center in Tempe. It is at this point that I can honestly say I spent the next year and a half in misery; I felt like a robot adeptly performing my job functions. I was really quite good at the job, receiving awards, accolades, even overtures of possible advancement into management within the organization.
I hated every moment of it! Every empty promise, every lie that I saw through. One day, I awoke, mentally and spiritually. I packed-up my personal belongings, tendered my resignation to Human Resources and enrolled full-time at Mesa Community College to study Graphic Design. It was the best decision I ever made. Today I wake up each day eager to make art. While this decision has been a financial challenge (I am not wealthy-I have a modest retirement savings and depend upon government and private student loans to continue my studies), I am determined to accomplish my artistic dream.
2. Print-on-Demand
Available for sale on various products, including this adhesive wine bottle label, on Cafepress.com - search "difondi" to find all of my designs. Btw, I have already made 2 sales (other than my own) on Cafepress.
3. Image(s) of physical portfolio
4. Digital Portfolio
http://danieldifondi.blogspot.com/
5. Extra Credit
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